Map based neighborhood search and community contribution

ABSTRACT

A method, apparatus and system of map based neighborhood search and community contribution are disclosed. In one embodiment, a neighborhood communication system is described. This embodiment includes a privacy server to apply an address verification algorithm associated with each user of the online community to verify that each user lives at a residence associated with a claimable residential address of an online community formed through a social community module of the privacy server using a processor and a memory. The privacy server automatically determines a set of access privileges in the online community associated with each user of the online community by constraining access in the online community based on a neighborhood boundary determined using an algorithm of the privacy server. The privacy server may constrain the particular user to communicate through the online community only with a set of neighbors having verified addresses using the privacy server.

CLAIMS OF PRIORITY

This patent application claims priority from, and hereby incorporates byreference and claims priority from the entirety of the disclosures ofthe following cases and each of the cases on which they depend andfurther claim priority or incorporate by reference:

-   (1) U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 11/603,442 titled ‘MAP    BASED NEIGHBORHOOD SEARCH AND COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION’ filed on Nov.    22, 2006.-   (2) U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 11/653,194 titled    ‘LODGING AND REAL PROPERTY IN A GEO-SPATIAL MAPPING ENVIRONMENT’    filed on Jan. 12, 2007, and all provisional cases on which this case    depends including 60/783,226 filed on Mar. 17, 2006, 60/817,470    filed on Jun. 28, 2006, 60/853,499 filed on Oct. 19, 2006, and    60/854,230 filed on Oct. 25, 2006.-   (3) U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 11/827,400 titled ‘HOT    NEWS NEIGHBORHOOD BANTER IN A GEO-SPATIAL SOCIAL NETWORK’ filed on    Jul. 10, 2007.-   (4) U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 11/731,465 titled    ‘WHITE PAGES AND YELLOW PAGE DIRECTORIES IN A GEO-SPATIAL    ENVIRONMENT’ filed on Mar. 29, 2007.-   (6) U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 13/236,964 titled    ‘NEAR-FIELD COMMUNICATION ENABLED WEARABLE APPAREL GARMENT AND    METHOD TO CAPTURE GEOSPATIALLY AND SOCIALLY RELEVANT DATA OF A    WEARER OF THE WEARABLE APPAREL GARMENT AND/OR A USER OF A READER    DEVICE ASSOCIATED THEREWITH’ filed on Sep. 20, 2011.-   (7) U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 13/242,303 titled    ‘GEOSPATIALLY CONSTRAINED GASTRONOMIC BIDDING’ filed on Sep. 23,    2011.-   (8) U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 13/272,245 titled    ‘NEAR-FIELD COMMUNICATION ENABLED WEARABLE APPAREL GARMENT AND    METHOD TO CAPTURE GEOSPATIALLY AND SOCIALLY RELEVANT DATA OF A    WEARER OF THE WEARABLE APPAREL GARMENT AND/OR A USER OF A READER    DEVICE ASSOCIATED THEREWITH’ filed on Oct. 13, 2011.-   (9) U.S. Provisional patent application number 61/894,443 titled    ‘RADIO BROADCAST, COMMERCE PUSHPINS, AND AUTOMATED PAGE UPDATES TO A    GEOSPATIALLY CONSTRAINED NEIGHBORHOOD REGION THROUGH AN INTERNET    NETWORK AND SEPARATELY A TRACKABLE SOCIAL COMMUNITY FORMED BASED ON    TRACKABLE TAG BASED APPAREL THAT CREATES INCENTIVES AND CONNECTIONS    BETWEEN USERS WEARING PROMOTIONAL APPAREL AND THOSE OTHER USERS    READING THE TRACKABLE TAG ON THE APPAREL’ filed on Oct. 23, 2013.-   (10) U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 14/079,611 titled ‘JOB    BROADCAST DATA PUBLICATION THROUGH A WORK-OPPORTUNITY LISTING SERVER    USING A RADIAL ALGORITHM TO AUTOMATICALLY DISTRIBUTE THE JOB    BROADCAST DATA IN A THRESHOLD RADIAL DISTANCE FROM A SET OF    GEOSPATIAL COORDINATES ASSOCIATED WITH A MOBILE DEVICE’ filed on    Nov. 13, 2013.-   (11) U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 14/089,779 titled    ‘EMERGENCY INCLUDING CRIME BROADCAST IN A NEIGHBORHOOD SOCIAL    NETWORK’ filed on Nov. 26, 2013.-   (12) U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 14/100,034 titled    ‘SOCIAL CONNECTIONS THROUGH TAGGABLE APPAREL’ filed on Dec. 9, 2013.-   (13) U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 14/102,474 titled    ‘SHORT-TERM RESIDENTIAL SPACES IN A GEO-SPATIAL MAPPING ENVIRONMENT’    filed on Dec. 10, 2013.-   (14) U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 14/141,432 titled    ‘HOLIDAY EXPRESSION AND MAPPING IN A GEOSPATIALLY CONSTRAINED SOCIAL    NETWORK’ filed on Dec. 26, 2013.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

This disclosure relates generally to the technical fields ofcommunications and, in one example embodiment, to a method, apparatus,and system of map based community search and neighborhood contribution.

BACKGROUND

A neighborhood may be a geographically localized community in a largercity, town, and/or suburb. Residents of the neighborhood may refer toeach other as neighbors, although this term may also be used across muchlarger distances in rural areas. In theory, the neighborhood may besmall enough that the neighbors may be able to know each other bywalking and/or driving a short distance (e.g., 5 miles) around theirplace of residence and/or their place of work. However, in practice, theneighbors may not know one another very well (e.g., because of busyschedules, fenced communities, lack of effort, a lack of time, etc.).

The neighborhood may be given a designated status through a neighborhoodassociation, a neighborhood watch group, a political group, a homeownersassociation, and/or a tenant association. These groups may help inmatters such as lawn care and fence height, and they may provide suchservices as block parties, neighborhood parks, children activities,special interest groups, and/or community security. However, gettingmessages out to residents of the neighborhood may require expensivedirect mail, and/or time consuming door to door meetings with residentsof the neighborhood.

A neighborhood watch (e.g., a crime watch, a block watch, a neighborhoodcrime watch, etc.) may be an organization of active residents devoted tocrime and/or vandalism prevention in the neighborhood. Members of theneighborhood watch may stay alert of unusual activity, behaviors, and/orcrime in the neighborhood. However, most residents may not be activeparticipants of the neighborhood association (e.g., because of a lack oftime), and may be unaware of safety, security, and/or prevention issuesin their immediate area.

For example, in many American communities, while a few active residentsknow a lot of their neighbors, there are far more residents who do noteven know what professions, interests, and reputations are of theirimmediate next-door neighbors. As a result, friendships among neighborsdon't form as often, neighbors have more difficult time asking otherneighbors for help, safety in the neighborhood suffers, quality of lifeis impacted, and a sense of community is diminishing.

SUMMARY

A method, apparatus and system of map based neighborhood search andcommunity contribution are disclosed. In one aspect, a neighborhoodcommunication system is described. This aspect includes a privacy serverto apply an address verification algorithm associated with each user ofthe online community to verify that each user lives at a residenceassociated with a claimable residential address of an online communityformed through a social community module of the privacy server using aprocessor and a memory, a network, and a mapping server communicativelycoupled with the privacy server through the network to generate alatitudinal data and a longitudinal data associated with each claimableresidential address of the online community associated with each user ofthe online community. The privacy server automatically determines a setof access privileges in the online community associated with each userof the online community by constraining access in the online communitybased on a neighborhood boundary determined using a Bezier curvealgorithm of the privacy server in this aspect.

The privacy server may transform the claimable residential address intoa claimed address upon an occurrence of an event. The privacy server mayinstantiate the event when a particular user is associated with theclaimable residential address based on a verification of the particularuser as living at a particular residential address associated with theclaimable residential address using the privacy server. The privacyserver may constrain the particular user to communicate through theonline community only with a set of neighbors having verified addressesusing the privacy server. The privacy server may define the set ofneighbors as other users of the online community that have each verifiedtheir addresses in the online community using the privacy server and/orwhich have each claimed residential addresses that are in a thresholdradial distance from the claimed address of the particular user.

The privacy server may constrain the threshold radial distance to beless than a distance of the neighborhood boundary using the Bezier curvealgorithm. The privacy server may permit the neighborhood boundary totake on a variety of shapes based on an associated geographicconnotation, a historical connotation, a political connotation, and/or acultural connotation of neighborhood boundaries. The privacy server mayapply a database of constraints associated with neighborhood boundariesthat are imposed on a map view of the online community when permittingthe neighborhood boundary to take on the variety of shapes.

The privacy server may generate a user-generated boundary in a form of apolygon describing geospatial boundaries defining the particularneighborhood when a first user of a particular neighborhood thatverifies a first residential address of the particular neighborhoodusing the privacy server prior to other users in that particularneighborhood verifying their addresses in that particular neighborhoodplaces a set of points defining the particular neighborhood using a setof drawing tools in the map view of the online community. The privacyserver may optionally extend the threshold radial distance to anadjacent boundary of an adjacent neighborhood based a request of theparticular user. The privacy server may generate a separate login to theonline community designed to be usable by a police department, amunicipal agency, a neighborhood association, and/or a neighborhoodleader associated with the particular neighborhood.

The separate login may permit the police department, the municipalagency, the neighborhood association, and/or the neighborhood leader to:(1) invite residents of the particular neighborhood themselves using theprivacy server using a self-authenticating access code that permits newusers that enter the self-authenticating access code in the onlinecommunity to automatically join the particular neighborhood as verifiedusers, (2) generate a virtual neighborhood watch group and/or anemergency preparedness group restricted to users verified in theparticular neighborhood using the privacy server, (3) conduct high valuecrime and/or safety related discussions from local police and/or fireofficials that is restricted to users verified in the particularneighborhood using the privacy server, (4) broadcast information acrossthe particular neighborhood, and (5) receive and/or track neighborhoodlevel membership and/or activity to identify leaders from the restrictedgroup of users verified in the particular neighborhood using the privacyserver.

The privacy server may permit each of the restricted group of usersverified in the particular neighborhood using the privacy server to: (1)share information about a suspicious activity that is likely to affectseveral neighborhoods, (2) explain about a lost pet that might havewandered into an adjoining neighborhood, (3) rally support fromneighbors from multiple neighborhoods to address civic issues, (4)spread information about events comprising a local theater productionand/or a neighborhood garage sale, and/or (5) solicit advice and/orrecommendations from the restricted group of users verified in theparticular neighborhood and/or optionally in the adjacent neighborhood.

The privacy server may flag a neighborhood feed from the particularneighborhood and/or optionally from the adjacent neighborhood as beinginappropriate. The privacy server may suspend users that repeatedlycommunicate self-promotional messages that are inappropriate as votedbased on a sensibility of any one of the verified users of theparticular neighborhood and/or optionally from the adjacentneighborhood. The privacy server may personalize which nearbyneighborhoods that verified users are able to communicate through basedon a request of the particular user. The privacy server may permit theneighborhood leader to communicate privately with leaders of anadjoining neighborhood to plan and/or organize on behalf of an entireconstituency of verified users of the particular neighborhood associatedwith the neighborhood leader.

The privacy server may filter feeds to only display messages from theparticular neighborhood associated with each verified user. The privacyserver may restrict posts only in the particular neighborhood toverified users having verified addresses within the neighborhoodboundary. The address verification algorithm of the privacy serverutilizes a set of verification methods to perform verification of theparticular user through any of a: (1) a postcard verification methodthrough which the privacy server generates a physical postcard that ispostal mailed to addresses of requesting users in the particularneighborhood and/or having a unique alphanumeric sequence in a form ofan access code printed thereon which authenticates users that enter theaccess code to view and/or search privileges in the particularneighborhood of the online community, (2) a credit card verificationmethod through which the privacy server verifies the claimableresidential address when at least one a credit card billing addressand/or a debit card billing address is matched with an inputted addressthrough an authentication services provider, (3) a privately-publishedaccess code method through which the privacy server communicates to userprofiles of the police department, the municipal agency, theneighborhood association, and/or the neighborhood leader an instantaccess code that is printable at town hall meetings and/or gatheringssponsored by any one of the police department, the municipal agency, theneighborhood association, and/or the neighborhood leader, (4) a neighborvouching method through which the privacy server authenticates new userswhen existing verified users agree to a candidacy of new users in theparticular neighborhood, (5) a phone verification method through whichthe privacy server authenticates new users whose phone number is matchedwith an inputted phone number through the authentication servicesprovider, and (6) a social security verification method through whichthe privacy server authenticates new users whose social security numberis matched with an inputted social security number through theauthentication services provider.

The privacy server may initially set the particular neighborhood to apilot phase status in which the online community of the particularneighborhood is provisionally defined until a minimum number of usersverify their residential addresses in the particular neighborhoodthrough the privacy server. The privacy server may automatically deleteprofiles of users that remain unverified after a threshold window oftime. The neighborhood communication system may be designed to createprivate websites to facilitate communication among neighbors and/orbuild stronger neighborhoods.

In another aspect a method of a neighborhood communication system isdescribed. The method includes applying an address verificationalgorithm associated with each user of the online community using aprivacy server, verifying that each user lives at a residence associatedwith a claimable residential address of an online community formedthrough a social community module of the privacy server using aprocessor and a memory, generating a latitudinal data and a longitudinaldata associated with each claimable residential address of the onlinecommunity associated with each user of the online community, anddetermining a set of access privileges in the online communityassociated with each user of the online community by constraining accessin the online community based on a neighborhood boundary determinedusing a Bezier curve algorithm of the privacy server.

The method may transform the claimable residential address into aclaimed address upon an occurrence of an event. The method mayinstantiate the event when a particular user is associated with theclaimable residential address based on a verification of the particularuser as living at a particular residential address associated with theclaimable residential address using the privacy server. The method mayconstrain the particular user to communicate through the onlinecommunity only with a set of neighbors having verified addresses usingthe privacy server. The method may define the set of neighbors as otherusers of the online community that have each verified their addresses inthe online community using the privacy server and/or which have eachclaimed residential addresses that are in a threshold radial distancefrom the claimed address of the particular user. The method mayconstrain the threshold radial distance to be less than a distance ofthe neighborhood boundary using the Bezier curve algorithm.

In addition, the method may define a neighborhood boundary to take on avariety of shapes based on an associated geographic connotation, ahistorical connotation, a political connotation, and/or a culturalconnotation of neighborhood boundaries. The method may apply a databaseof constraints associated with neighborhood boundaries that are imposedon a map view of the online community when permitting the neighborhoodboundary to take on the variety of shapes. The method may generate auser-generated boundary in a form of a polygon describing geospatialboundaries defining the particular neighborhood when a first user of aparticular neighborhood that verifies a first residential address of theparticular neighborhood using the privacy server prior to other users inthat particular neighborhood verifying their addresses in thatparticular neighborhood places a set of points defining the particularneighborhood using a set of drawing tools in the map view of the onlinecommunity. The method may optionally extend the threshold radialdistance to an adjacent boundary of an adjacent neighborhood based arequest of the particular user. The method may generate a separate loginto the online community designed to be usable by a police department, amunicipal agency, a neighborhood association, and/or a neighborhoodleader associated with the particular neighborhood.

The method may permit the police department, the municipal agency, theneighborhood association, and/or the neighborhood leader to: (1) inviteresidents of the particular neighborhood themselves using the privacyserver using a self-authenticating access code that permits new usersthat enter the self-authenticating access code in the online communityto automatically join the particular neighborhood as verified users, (2)generate a virtual neighborhood watch group and/or an emergencypreparedness group restricted to users verified in the particularneighborhood using the privacy server, (3) conduct high value crimeand/or safety related discussions from local police and/or fireofficials that is restricted to users verified in the particularneighborhood using the privacy server, (4) broadcast information acrossthe particular neighborhood, and/or (5) receive and/or trackneighborhood level membership and/or activity to identify leaders fromthe restricted group of users verified in the particular neighborhoodusing the privacy server.

The method may permit each of the restricted group of users verified inthe particular neighborhood using the privacy server to: (1) shareinformation about a suspicious activity that is likely to affect severalneighborhoods, (2) explain about a lost pet that might have wanderedinto an adjoining neighborhood, (3) rally support from neighbors frommultiple neighborhoods to address civic issues, (4) spread informationabout events comprising a local theater production and/or a neighborhoodgarage sale, and/or (5) solicit advice and/or recommendations from therestricted group of users verified in the particular neighborhood and/oroptionally in the adjacent neighborhood.

The method may flag a neighborhood feed from the particular neighborhoodand/or optionally from the adjacent neighborhood as being inappropriate.The method may suspend users that repeatedly communicateself-promotional messages that are inappropriate as voted based on asensibility of any one of the verified users of the particularneighborhood and/or optionally from the adjacent neighborhood. Themethod may personalize which nearby neighborhoods that verified usersare able to communicate through based on a request of the particularuser. The method may permit the neighborhood leader to communicateprivately with leaders of an adjoining neighborhood to plan and/ororganize on behalf of an entire constituency of verified users of theparticular neighborhood associated with the neighborhood leader.

The method may filter feeds to only display messages from the particularneighborhood associated with each verified user. The method may restrictposts only in the particular neighborhood to verified users havingverified addresses within the neighborhood boundary. The method mayutilize a set of verification methods to perform verification of theparticular user through: (1) generating a physical postcard that ispostal mailed to addresses of requesting users in the particularneighborhood and/or having a unique alphanumeric sequence in a form ofan access code printed thereon which authenticates users that enter theaccess code to view and/or search privileges in the particularneighborhood of the online community. (2) verifying the claimableresidential address when at least one a credit card billing addressand/or a debit card billing address is matched with an inputted addressthrough an authentication services provider. (3) communicating to userprofiles of the police department, the municipal agency, theneighborhood association, and/or the neighborhood leader an instantaccess code that is printable at town hall meetings and/or gatheringssponsored by any one of the police department, the municipal agency, theneighborhood association, and/or the neighborhood leader. (4)authenticating new users when existing verified users agree to acandidacy of new users in the particular neighborhood. (5)authenticating new users whose phone number is matched with an inputtedphone number through the authentication services provider. (6)authenticating new users whose social security number is matched with aninputted social security number through the authentication servicesprovider.

The method may initially set the particular neighborhood to a pilotphase status in which the online community of the particularneighborhood is provisionally defined until a minimum number of usersverify their residential addresses in the particular neighborhoodthrough the privacy server. The method may automatically delete profilesof users that remain unverified after a threshold window of time. Theneighborhood communication system may be designed to create privatewebsites to facilitate communication among neighbors and/or buildstronger neighborhoods.

In yet another aspect, another neighborhood communication system isdescribed. This aspect includes a privacy server to apply an addressverification algorithm associated with each user of the online communityto verify that each user lives at a residence associated with aclaimable residential address of an online community formed through asocial community module of the privacy server using a processor and amemory, a network, and a mapping server communicatively coupled with theprivacy server through the network to generate a latitudinal data and alongitudinal data associated with each claimable residential address ofthe online community associated with each user of the online community.The privacy server automatically determines a set of access privilegesin the online community associated with each user of the onlinecommunity by constraining access in the online community based on aneighborhood boundary determined using a Bezier curve algorithm of theprivacy server in this aspect.

In addition, in this yet another aspect the privacy server transformsthe claimable residential address into a claimed address upon anoccurrence of an event. The privacy server instantiates the event when aparticular user is associated with the claimable residential addressbased on a verification of the particular user as living at a particularresidential address associated with the claimable residential addressusing the privacy server in this yet another aspect. The privacy serverconstrains the particular user to communicate through the onlinecommunity only with a set of neighbors having verified addresses usingthe privacy server in this yet another aspect. The privacy serverdefines the set of neighbors as other users of the online community thathave each verified their addresses in the online community using theprivacy server and which have each claimed residential addresses thatare in a threshold radial distance from the claimed address of theparticular user in this yet another aspect.

The methods, systems, and apparatuses disclosed herein may beimplemented in any means for achieving various aspects, and may beexecuted in a form of a machine-readable medium embodying a set ofinstructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine toperform any of the operations disclosed herein. Other features will beapparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detaileddescription that follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Example embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitationin the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like referencesindicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is a system view of a global neighborhood environmentcommunicating with the neighborhood(s) through a network, anadvertiser(s), a global map data and an occupant data according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a social community module of FIG. 1,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a search module of FIG. 1, according toone embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a claimable module of FIG. 1, according toone embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of a commerce module of FIG. 1, according toone embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of a map module of FIG. 1, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 7 is a table view of user address details, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 8 is a social community view of a social community module,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a profile view of a profile module, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 10 is a contribute view of a neighborhood network module, accordingto one embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic system view of a data processing system inwhich any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be performed,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 12A is a user interface view of mapping user profile of thegeographical location, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 12B is a user interface view of mapping of the claimable profile,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 13A is a user interface view of mapping of a claimable profile ofthe commercial user, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 13B is a user interface view of mapping of customizable businessprofile of the commercial user, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a user interface view of a group view associated withparticular geographical location, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a user interface view of claim view, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 16 is a user interface view of a building builder, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 17 is a systematic view of communication of claimable data,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a systematic view of a network view, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram of a database, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 20 is an exemplary graphical user interface view for datacollection, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 21 is an exemplary graphical user interface view of imagecollection, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 22 is an exemplary graphical user interface view of an invitation,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart of inviting the invitee(s) by the registereduser, notifying the registered user upon the acceptance of theinvitation by the invitee(s) and, processing and storing the input dataassociated with the user in the database, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart of adding the neighbor to the queue, according toone embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart of communicating brief profiles of the registeredusers, processing a hyperlink selection from the verified registereduser and calculating and ensuring the Nmax degree of separation of theregistered users away from verified registered users, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 26 is an N degree separation view, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 27 is a user interface view showing a map, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 28A is a process flow chart of searching a map based community andneighborhood contribution, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 28B is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 28A showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 28C is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 28B showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 28D is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 28C showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 28E is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 28D showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment.

Other features of the present embodiments will be apparent from theaccompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A method, apparatus and system of map based neighborhood search andcommunity contribution are disclosed. In the following description, forthe purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the various embodiments. Itwill be evident, however to one skilled in the art that the variousembodiments may be practiced without these specific details.

In one embodiment, a neighborhood communication system 150 is described.This embodiment includes a privacy server 100 to apply an addressverification algorithm (e.g., using verify module 206 of FIG. 2)associated with each user of the online community (e.g., as shown in thesocial community view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through the neighborhoodnetwork module as described in FIG. 10) to verify that each user livesat a residence associated with a claimable residential address (e.g.,using sub-modules of the claimable module 110 as described in FIG. 3) ofan online community (e.g., as shown in the social community view 850 ofFIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood network module as described inFIG. 10) formed through a social community module 106 of the privacyserver 100 using a processor 1102 and a memory (e.g., as described inFIG. 11).

A network 104, and a mapping server 126 (e.g., providing global mapdata) communicatively coupled with the privacy server 100 through thenetwork 104 generate a latitudinal data and a longitudinal dataassociated with each claimable residential address (e.g., usingsub-modules of the claimable module 110 as described in FIG. 3) of theonline community (e.g., as shown in the social community view 850 ofFIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood network module as described inFIG. 10) associated with each user of the online community (e.g., asshown in the social community view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through theneighborhood network module as described in FIG. 10) in this embodiment.

The privacy server 100 automatically determines a set of accessprivileges in the online community (e.g., as shown in the socialcommunity view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood networkmodule as described in FIG. 10) associated with each user of the onlinecommunity (e.g., as shown in the social community view 850 of FIG. 8formed through the neighborhood network module as described in FIG. 10)by constraining access in the online community (e.g., as shown in thesocial community view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through the neighborhoodnetwork module as described in FIG. 10) based on a neighborhood boundarydetermined using a Bezier curve algorithm 240 of the privacy server 100in this embodiment.

The privacy server 100 (e.g., a hardware device of a global neighborhoodenvironment) may transform the claimable residential address (e.g.,using sub-modules of the claimable module 110 as described in FIG. 3)into a claimed address upon an occurrence of an event. The privacyserver 100 may instantiate the event when a particular user 116 isassociated with the claimable residential address (e.g., usingsub-modules of the claimable module 110 as described in FIG. 3) based ona verification of the particular user 116 as living at a particularresidential address (e.g., associated with the residence 118 of FIG. 1)associated with the claimable residential address (e.g., usingsub-modules of the claimable module 110 as described in FIG. 3) usingthe privacy server 100. The privacy server 100 may constrain theparticular user 116 to communicate through the online community (e.g.,as shown in the social community view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through theneighborhood network module as described in FIG. 10) only with a set ofneighbors 128 (e.g., such as the particular neighbor 120 of FIG. 1forming an occupant data) having verified addresses using the privacyserver 100. The privacy server 100 may define the set of neighbors 128(e.g., such as the particular neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) as other users ofthe online community (e.g., as shown in the social community view 850 ofFIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood network module as described inFIG. 10) that have each verified their addresses in the online community(e.g., as shown in the social community view 850 of FIG. 8 formedthrough the neighborhood network module as described in FIG. 10) usingthe privacy server 100 and/or which have each claimed residentialaddresses that are in a threshold radial distance from the claimedaddress of the particular user 116.

The privacy server 100 may constrain the threshold radial distance to beless than a distance of the neighborhood boundary using the Bezier curvealgorithm 240. The privacy server 100 may permit the neighborhoodboundary to take on a variety of shapes based on an associatedgeographic connotation, a historical connotation, a politicalconnotation, and/or a cultural connotation of neighborhood boundaries.The privacy server 100 may apply a database of constraints (e.g., thedatabases of FIG. 2 including the places database 218) associated withneighborhood boundaries that are imposed on a map view of the onlinecommunity (e.g., as shown in the social community view 850 of FIG. 8formed through the neighborhood network module as described in FIG. 10)when permitting the neighborhood boundary to take on the variety ofshapes.

The privacy server 100 may generate a user-generated boundary in a formof a polygon describing geospatial boundaries defining the particularneighborhood when a first user of a particular neighborhood thatverifies a first residential address of the particular neighborhoodusing the privacy server 100 prior to other users in that particularneighborhood verifying their addresses in that particular neighborhoodplaces a set of points defining the particular neighborhood using a setof drawing tools in the map view of the online community (e.g., as shownin the social community view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through theneighborhood network module as described in FIG. 10). The privacy server100 may optionally extend the threshold radial distance to an adjacentboundary of an adjacent neighborhood based a request of the particularuser 116. The privacy server 100 may generate a separate login to theonline community (e.g., as shown in the social community view 850 ofFIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood network module as described inFIG. 10) designed to be usable by a police department, a municipalagency, a neighborhood association, and/or a neighborhood leaderassociated with the particular neighborhood.

The separate login may permit the police department, the municipalagency, the neighborhood association, and/or the neighborhood leader to:(1) invite residents of the particular neighborhood themselves (e.g.,see the user interface view of FIG. 22) using the privacy server 100using a self-authenticating access code that permits new users thatenter the self-authenticating access code in the online community (e.g.,as shown in the social community view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through theneighborhood network module as described in FIG. 10) to automaticallyjoin the particular neighborhood as verified users (e.g., the verifieduser 1310 of FIG. 13A), (2) generate a virtual neighborhood watch groupand/or an emergency preparedness group restricted to users verified inthe particular neighborhood using the privacy server 100, (3) conducthigh value crime and/or safety related discussions from local policeand/or fire officials that is restricted to users verified in theparticular neighborhood using the privacy server 100, (4) broadcastinformation across the particular neighborhood, and (5) receive and/ortrack neighborhood level membership and/or activity to identify leadersfrom the restricted group of users verified in the particularneighborhood using the privacy server 100.

The privacy server 100 may permit each of the restricted group of usersverified in the particular neighborhood using the privacy server 100 to:(1) share information about a suspicious activity that is likely toaffect several neighborhoods, (2) explain about a lost pet that mighthave wandered into an adjoining neighborhood, (3) rally support fromneighbors 128 (e.g., such as the particular neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) frommultiple neighborhoods to address civic issues, (4) spread informationabout events comprising a local theater production and/or a neighborhoodgarage sale, and/or (5) solicit advice and/or recommendations from therestricted group of users verified in the particular neighborhood and/oroptionally in the adjacent neighborhood.

The privacy server 100 may flag a neighborhood feed from the particularneighborhood and/or optionally from the adjacent neighborhood as beinginappropriate. The privacy server 100 may suspend users that repeatedlycommunicate self-promotional messages that are inappropriate as votedbased on a sensibility of any one of the verified users (e.g., theverified user 1310 of FIG. 13A) of the particular neighborhood and/oroptionally from the adjacent neighborhood. The privacy server 100 maypersonalize which nearby neighborhoods that verified users (e.g., theverified user 1310 of FIG. 13A) are able to communicate through based ona request of the particular user 116. The privacy server 100 may permitthe neighborhood leader to communicate privately with leaders of anadjoining neighborhood to plan and/or organize on behalf of an entireconstituency of verified users (e.g., a plurality of the verified user1310 of FIG. 13A) of the particular neighborhood associated with theneighborhood leader.

The privacy server 100 may filter feeds to only display messages fromthe particular neighborhood associated with each verified user. Theprivacy server 100 may restrict posts only in the particularneighborhood to verified users (e.g., the verified user 1310 of FIG.13A) having verified addresses within the neighborhood boundary (e.g.,the claim view 1550 of FIG. 15 describes a claiming process of anaddress). The address verification algorithm (e.g., using verify module206 of FIG. 2) of the privacy server 100 utilizes a set of verificationmethods to perform verification of the particular user 116 through anyof a: (1) a postcard verification method through which the privacyserver 100 generates a physical postcard that is postal mailed toaddresses of requesting users in the particular neighborhood and/orhaving a unique alphanumeric sequence in a form of an access codeprinted thereon which authenticates users that enter the access code toview and/or search privileges in the particular neighborhood of theonline community (e.g., as shown in the social community view 850 ofFIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood network module as described inFIG. 10), (2) a credit card verification method through which theprivacy server 100 verifies the claimable residential address (e.g.,using sub-modules of the claimable module 110 as described in FIG. 3)when at least one a credit card billing address and/or a debit cardbilling address is matched with an inputted address through anauthentication services provider, (3) a privately-published access codemethod through which the privacy server 100 communicates to userprofiles of the police department, the municipal agency, theneighborhood association, and/or the neighborhood leader an instantaccess code that is printable at town hall meetings and/or gatheringssponsored by any one of the police department, the municipal agency, theneighborhood association, and/or the neighborhood leader, (4) a neighborvouching method through which the privacy server 100 authenticates newusers when existing verified users (e.g., the verified user 1310 of FIG.13A) agree to a candidacy of new users in the particular neighborhood,(5) a phone verification method through which the privacy server 100authenticates new users whose phone number is matched with an inputtedphone number through the authentication services provider, and (6) asocial security verification method through which the privacy server 100authenticates new users whose social security number is matched with aninputted social security number through the authentication servicesprovider.

The privacy server 100 may initially set the particular neighborhood toa pilot phase status in which the online community (e.g., as shown inthe social community view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through the neighborhoodnetwork module as described in FIG. 10) of the particular neighborhoodis provisionally defined until a minimum number of users verify theirresidential addresses in the particular neighborhood through the privacyserver 100. The privacy server 100 may automatically delete profiles ofusers that remain unverified after a threshold window of time. Theneighborhood communication system 150 may be designed to create privatewebsites to facilitate communication among neighbors 128 (e.g., such asthe particular neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) and/or build strongerneighborhoods.

In another embodiment a method of a neighborhood communication system150 is described. The method includes applying an address verificationalgorithm (e.g., using verify module 206 of FIG. 2) associated with eachuser of the online community (e.g., as shown in the social communityview 850 of FIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood network module asdescribed in FIG. 10) using a privacy server 100, verifying that eachuser lives at a residence associated with a claimable residentialaddress (e.g., using sub-modules of the claimable module 110 asdescribed in FIG. 3) of an online community (e.g., as shown in thesocial community view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through the neighborhoodnetwork module as described in FIG. 10) formed through a socialcommunity module 106 of the privacy server 100 using a processor 1102and a memory (e.g., as described in FIG. 11), generating a latitudinaldata and a longitudinal data associated with each claimable residentialaddress (e.g., using sub-modules of the claimable module 110 asdescribed in FIG. 3) of the online community (e.g., as shown in thesocial community view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through the neighborhoodnetwork module as described in FIG. 10) associated with each user of theonline community (e.g., as shown in the social community view 850 ofFIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood network module as described inFIG. 10), and determining a set of access privileges in the onlinecommunity (e.g., as shown in the social community view 850 of FIG. 8formed through the neighborhood network module as described in FIG. 10)associated with each user of the online community (e.g., as shown in thesocial community view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through the neighborhoodnetwork module as described in FIG. 10) by constraining access in theonline community (e.g., as shown in the social community view 850 ofFIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood network module as described inFIG. 10) based on a neighborhood boundary determined using a Beziercurve algorithm 240 of the privacy server 100.

The method may transform the claimable residential address (e.g., usingsub-modules of the claimable module 110 as described in FIG. 3) into aclaimed address upon an occurrence of an event. The method mayinstantiate the event when a particular user 116 is associated with theclaimable residential address (e.g., using sub-modules of the claimablemodule 110 as described in FIG. 3) based on a verification of theparticular user 116 as living at a particular residential address (e.g.,associated with the residence 118 of FIG. 1) associated with theclaimable residential address (e.g., using sub-modules of the claimablemodule 110 as described in FIG. 3) using the privacy server 100.

The method may constrain the particular user 116 to communicate throughthe online community (e.g., as shown in the social community view 850 ofFIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood network module as described inFIG. 10) only with a set of neighbors 128 (e.g., such as the particularneighbor 120 of FIG. 1) having verified addresses using the privacyserver 100. The method may define the set of neighbors 128 (e.g., suchas the particular neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) as other users of the onlinecommunity (e.g., as shown in the social community view 850 of FIG. 8formed through the neighborhood network module as described in FIG. 10)that have each verified their addresses in the online community (e.g.,as shown in the social community view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through theneighborhood network module as described in FIG. 10) using the privacyserver 100 and/or which have each claimed residential addresses that arein a threshold radial distance from the claimed address of theparticular user 116.

The method may constrain the threshold radial distance to be less than adistance of the neighborhood boundary using the Bezier curve algorithm240.

In addition, the method may define a neighborhood boundary to take on avariety of shapes based on an associated geographic connotation, ahistorical connotation, a political connotation, and/or a culturalconnotation of neighborhood boundaries. The method may apply a databaseof constraints (e.g., the databases of FIG. 2 including the placesdatabase 218) associated with neighborhood boundaries that are imposedon a map view of the online community (e.g., as shown in the socialcommunity view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood networkmodule as described in FIG. 10) when permitting the neighborhoodboundary to take on the variety of shapes.

The method may generate a user-generated boundary in a form of a polygondescribing geospatial boundaries defining the particular neighborhoodwhen a first user of a particular neighborhood that verifies a firstresidential address of the particular neighborhood using the privacyserver 100 prior to other users in that particular neighborhoodverifying their addresses in that particular neighborhood places a setof points defining the particular neighborhood using a set of drawingtools in the map view of the online community (e.g., as shown in thesocial community view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through the neighborhoodnetwork module as described in FIG. 10). The method may optionallyextend the threshold radial distance to an adjacent boundary of anadjacent neighborhood based a request of the particular user 116.

The method may generate a separate login to the online community (e.g.,as shown in the social community view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through theneighborhood network module as described in FIG. 10) designed to beusable by a police department, a municipal agency, a neighborhoodassociation, and/or a neighborhood leader associated with the particularneighborhood.

The method may permit the police department, the municipal agency, theneighborhood association, and/or the neighborhood leader to: (1) inviteresidents of the particular neighborhood themselves (e.g., see the userinterface view of FIG. 22) using the privacy server 100 using aself-authenticating access code that permits new users that enter theself-authenticating access code in the online community (e.g., as shownin the social community view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through theneighborhood network module as described in FIG. 10) to automaticallyjoin the particular neighborhood as verified users (e.g., the verifieduser 1310 of FIG. 13A), (2) generate a virtual neighborhood watch groupand/or an emergency preparedness group restricted to users verified inthe particular neighborhood using the privacy server 100, (3) conducthigh value crime and/or safety related discussions from local policeand/or fire officials that is restricted to users verified in theparticular neighborhood using the privacy server 100, (4) broadcastinformation across the particular neighborhood, and/or (5) receiveand/or track neighborhood level membership and/or activity to identifyleaders from the restricted group of users verified in the particularneighborhood using the privacy server 100.

The method may permit each of the restricted group of users verified inthe particular neighborhood using the privacy server 100 to: (1) shareinformation about a suspicious activity that is likely to affect severalneighborhoods, (2) explain about a lost pet that might have wanderedinto an adjoining neighborhood, (3) rally support from neighbors 128(e.g., such as the particular neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) from multipleneighborhoods to address civic issues, (4) spread information aboutevents comprising a local theater production and/or a neighborhoodgarage sale, and/or (5) solicit advice and/or recommendations from therestricted group of users verified in the particular neighborhood and/oroptionally in the adjacent neighborhood.

The method may flag a neighborhood feed from the particular neighborhoodand/or optionally from the adjacent neighborhood as being inappropriate.The method may suspend users that repeatedly communicateself-promotional messages that are inappropriate as voted based on asensibility of any one of the verified users (e.g., the verified user1310 of FIG. 13A) of the particular neighborhood and/or optionally fromthe adjacent neighborhood. The method may personalize which nearbyneighborhoods that verified users (e.g., the verified user 1310 of FIG.13A) are able to communicate through based on a request of theparticular user 116. The method may permit the neighborhood leader tocommunicate privately with leaders of an adjoining neighborhood to planand/or organize on behalf of an entire constituency of verified users ofthe particular neighborhood associated with the neighborhood leader.

The method may filter feeds to only display messages from the particularneighborhood associated with each verified user. The method may restrictposts only in the particular neighborhood to verified users (e.g., theverified user 1310 of FIG. 13A) having verified addresses within theneighborhood boundary (e.g., the claim view 1550 of FIG. 15 describes aclaiming process of an address). The method may utilize a set ofverification methods to perform verification of the particular user 116through: (1) generating a physical postcard that is postal mailed toaddresses of requesting users in the particular neighborhood and/orhaving a unique alphanumeric sequence in a form of an access codeprinted thereon which authenticates users that enter the access code toview and/or search privileges in the particular neighborhood of theonline community (e.g., as shown in the social community view 850 ofFIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood network module as described inFIG. 10). (2) verifying the claimable residential address (e.g., usingsub-modules of the claimable module 110 as described in FIG. 3) when atleast one a credit card billing address and/or a debit card billingaddress is matched with an inputted address through an authenticationservices provider. (3) communicating to user profiles of the policedepartment, the municipal agency, the neighborhood association, and/orthe neighborhood leader an instant access code that is printable at townhall meetings and/or gatherings sponsored by any one of the policedepartment, the municipal agency, the neighborhood association, and/orthe neighborhood leader. (4) authenticating new users when existingverified users (e.g., the verified user 1310 of FIG. 13A) agree to acandidacy of new users in the particular neighborhood. (5)authenticating new users whose phone number is matched with an inputtedphone number through the authentication services provider. (6)authenticating new users whose social security number is matched with aninputted social security number through the authentication servicesprovider.

The method may initially set the particular neighborhood to a pilotphase status in which the online community (e.g., as shown in the socialcommunity view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood networkmodule as described in FIG. 10) of the particular neighborhood isprovisionally defined until a minimum number of users verify theirresidential addresses in the particular neighborhood through the privacyserver 100. The method may automatically delete profiles of users thatremain unverified after a threshold window of time. The neighborhoodcommunication system 150 may be designed to create private websites tofacilitate communication among neighbors 128 (e.g., such as theparticular neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) and/or build stronger neighborhoods.

In yet another embodiment, another neighborhood communication system 150is described. This embodiment includes a privacy server 100 to apply anaddress verification algorithm (e.g., using verify module 206 of FIG. 2)associated with each user of the online community (e.g., as shown in thesocial community view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through the neighborhoodnetwork module as described in FIG. 10) to verify that each user livesat a residence associated with a claimable residential address (e.g.,using sub-modules of the claimable module 110 as described in FIG. 3) ofan online community (e.g., as shown in the social community view 850 ofFIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood network module as described inFIG. 10) formed through a social community module 106 of the privacyserver 100 using a processor 1102 and a memory (e.g., as described inFIG. 11), a network 104, and a mapping server 126 (e.g., providingglobal map data) communicatively coupled with the privacy server 100through the network 104 to generate a latitudinal data and alongitudinal data associated with each claimable residential address(e.g., using sub-modules of the claimable module 110 as described inFIG. 3) of the online community (e.g., as shown in the social communityview 850 of FIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood network module asdescribed in FIG. 10) associated with each user of the online community(e.g., as shown in the social community view 850 of FIG. 8 formedthrough the neighborhood network module as described in FIG. 10). Theprivacy server 100 automatically determines a set of access privilegesin the online community (e.g., as shown in the social community view 850of FIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood network module as described inFIG. 10) associated with each user of the online community (e.g., asshown in the social community view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through theneighborhood network module as described in FIG. 10) by constrainingaccess in the online community (e.g., as shown in the social communityview 850 of FIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood network module asdescribed in FIG. 10) based on a neighborhood boundary determined usinga Bezier curve algorithm 240 of the privacy server 100 in thisembodiment.

In addition, in this yet another embodiment the privacy server 100transforms the claimable residential address (e.g., using sub-modules ofthe claimable module 110 as described in FIG. 3) into a claimed addressupon an occurrence of an event. The privacy server 100 instantiates theevent when a particular user 116 is associated with the claimableresidential address (e.g., using sub-modules of the claimable module 110as described in FIG. 3) based on a verification of the particular user116 as living at a particular residential address (e.g., associated withthe residence 118 of FIG. 1) associated with the claimable residentialaddress (e.g., using sub-modules of the claimable module 110 asdescribed in FIG. 3) using the privacy server 100 in this yet anotherembodiment. The privacy server 100 constrains the particular user 116 tocommunicate through the online community (e.g., as shown in the socialcommunity view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through the neighborhood networkmodule as described in FIG. 10) only with a set of neighbors 128 (e.g.,such as the particular neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) having verified addressesusing the privacy server 100 in this yet another embodiment. The privacyserver 100 defines the set of neighbors 128 (e.g., such as theparticular neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) as other users of the onlinecommunity (e.g., as shown in the social community view 850 of FIG. 8formed through the neighborhood network module as described in FIG. 10)that have each verified their addresses in the online community (e.g.,as shown in the social community view 850 of FIG. 8 formed through theneighborhood network module as described in FIG. 10) using the privacyserver 100 and which have each claimed residential addresses that are ina threshold radial distance from the claimed address of the particularuser 116 in this yet another embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a system view of a privacy server 100 communicating withneighborhood(s) 102A-N through a network 104, an advertiser(s) 124, amapping server 126, an a database of neighbors 128 (e.g., occupantdata), according to one embodiment. Particularly FIG. 1 illustrates theprivacy server 100, the neighborhood 102A-N, the network 104,advertiser(s) 124, mapping server 126, and the a database of neighbors128 (e.g., occupant data), according to one embodiment. The privacyserver 100 may contain a social community module 106, a search module108, a claimable module 110, a commerce module 112 and a map module 114.The neighborhood may include a user 116, a community center 120, aresidence 118, a neighbor 120 and a business 122, according to oneembodiment.

The privacy server 100 may include any number of neighborhoods havingregistered users and/or unregistered users. The neighborhood(s) 102 maybe a geographically localized community in a larger city, town, and/orsuburb. The network 104 may be search engines, blogs, social networks,professional networks and static website that may unite individuals,groups and/or community. The social community module 106 may generate abuilding creator in which the registered users may create and/or modifyempty claimable profiles (e.g., a claimable profile 1206 of FIG.12A-12B, a claimable profile 1302 of FIG. 13A, a claimable profile 1704of FIG. 17). The search module 108 may include searching of informationof an individual, group and/or community.

The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2), as a function/module of the emergency responseserver, may determine the location of the user 116, the distance betweenthe user 116 and other verified users (e.g., the verified user 1310 ofFIG. 13A), and the distance between the user 116 and locations ofinterest. With that information, the social community module 106 (e.g.,that applies the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series ofmodules working in concert as described in FIG. 2) may further determinewhich verified users (e.g., the verified user 1310 of FIG. 13A) arewithin a predetermined vicinity of a user 116. This set of verifiedusers within the vicinity of another verified user may then bedetermined to be receptive to broadcasts transmitted by the user 116 andto be available as transmitters of broadcasts to the user 116.

The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) in effect may create a link between verified usersof the network 104 that allows the users to communicate with each other,and this link may be based on the physical distance between the users asmeasured relative to a current geospatial location of the device (e.g.,the device 1806, the device 1808 of FIG. 18) with a claimed and verified(e.g., through a verification mechanism such as a postcard verification,a utility bill verification, and/or a vouching of the user with otherusers) non-transitory location (e.g., a home location, a work location)of the user and/or other users. In an alternate embodiment, thetransitory location of the user (e.g., their current location, a currentlocation of their vehicle and/or mobile phone) and/or the other usersmay also be used by the radial algorithm (e.g., the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2) to determine an appropriate threshold distancefor broadcasting a message.

Furthermore, the social community module 106 (e.g., that applies theBezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules workingin concert as described in FIG. 2) may automatically update a set ofpages associated with profiles of individuals and/or businesses thathave not yet joined the network based on preseeded address information.In effect, the social community module 106 (e.g., that applies theBezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules workingin concert as described in FIG. 2) may update preseeded pages in ageo-constrained radial distance from where a broadcast originates (e.g.,using an epicenter calculated from the current location of the device(e.g., the device 1806, the device 1808 of FIG. 18) (e.g., a mobileversion of the device 1806 of FIG. 18 (e.g., a mobile phone, a tabletcomputer) with information about the neighborhood broadcast data. Ineffect, through this methodology, the social community module 106 (e.g.,that applies the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series ofmodules working in concert as described in FIG. 2) may leave ‘inboxes’and/or post ‘alerts’ on pages created for users that have not yet signedup based on a confirmed address of the users through a public and/or aprivate data source (e.g., from Infogroup®, from a white page directory,etc.).

The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) of the privacy server 100 may be different fromprevious implementations because it is the first implementation tosimulate the experience of local radio transmission between individualsusing the internet and non-radio network technology by basing theirnetwork broadcast range on the proximity of verified users to oneanother, according to one embodiment.

The Bezier curve algorithm 240 may operate as follows, according to oneembodiment. The radial algorithm (e.g., the Bezier curve algorithm 240of FIG. 2) may utilize a radial distribution function (e.g., a paircorrelation function)g(r)

In the neighborhood communication system 150. The radial distributionfunction may describe how density varies as a function of distance froma user 116, according to one embodiment.

If a given user 116 is taken to be at the origin O (e.g., theepicenter), and ifρ=N/Vis the average number density of recipients (e.g., other users of theneighborhood communication system 150 such as neighbors 128 of FIG. 1)in the neighborhood communication system 150, then the localtime-averaged density at a distance r from O isρg(r)according to one embodiment. This simplified definition may hold for ahomogeneous and isotropic type of recipients (e.g., other users of theneighborhood communication system 150 such as neighbors 128 of FIG. 1),according to one embodiment of the Bezier curve algorithm 240.

A more anisotropic distribution (e.g., exhibiting properties withdifferent values when measured in different directions) of therecipients (e.g., other users of the neighborhood communication system150 such as neighbors 128 of FIG. 1) will be described below, accordingto one embodiment of the Bezier curve algorithm 240. In simplest termsit may be a measure of the probability of finding a recipient at adistance of r away from a given user 116, relative to that for an idealdistribution scenario, according to one embodiment. The anisotropicalgorithm involves determining how many recipients (e.g., other users ofthe neighborhood communication system 150 such as neighbors 128 ofFIG. 1) are within a distance of r and r+dr away from the user 116,according to one embodiment. The Bezier curve algorithm 240 may bedetermined by calculating the distance between all user pairs andbinning them into a user histogram, according to one embodiment.

The histogram may then be normalized with respect to an ideal user atthe origin o, where user histograms are completely uncorrelated,according to one embodiment. For three dimensions (e.g., such as abuilding representation in the privacy server 100 in which there aremultiple residents in each floor), this normalization may be the numberdensity of the system multiplied by the volume of the spherical shell,which mathematically can be expressed asg(r)_(I)=4πr ² ρdr,where ρ may be the user density, according to one embodiment of theBezier curve algorithm 240.

The radial distribution function of the Bezier curve algorithm 240 canbe computed either via computer simulation methods like the Monte Carlomethod, or via the Ornstein-Zernike equation, using approximativeclosure relations like the Percus-Yevick approximation or theHypernetted Chain Theory, according to one embodiment.

This may be important because by confining the broadcast reach of averified user in the neighborhood communication system 150 to aspecified range, the social community module 106 (e.g., that applies theBezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules workingin concert as described in FIG. 2) may replicate the experience of localradio broadcasting and enable verified users to communicate informationto their immediate neighbors as well as receive information from theirimmediate neighbors in areas that they care about, according to oneembodiment. Such methodologies can be complemented with hyperlocaladvertising targeted to potential users of the privacy server 100 onpreseeded profile pages and/or active user pages of the privacy server100. Advertisement communications thus may become highly specialized andlocalized resulting in an increase in their value and interest to thelocal verified users of the network through the privacy server 100. Forexample, advertisers may wish to communicate helpful home securitydevices to a set of users located in a geospatial area with a highconcentration of home break-in broadcasts.

The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may also have wide application as it may solve theproblem of trying to locate a receptive audience to a verified user'sbroadcasts, whether that broadcast may a personal emergency, an one'spersonal music, an advertisement for a car for sale, a solicitation fora new employee, and/or a recommendation for a good restaurant in thearea. This social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Beziercurve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working inconcert as described in FIG. 2) may eliminate unnecessarily broadcastingthat information to those who are not receptive to it, both as atransmitter and as a recipient of the broadcast. The radial algorithm(e.g., the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2) saves both time (whichmay be critical and limited in an emergency context) and effort of everyuser involved by transmitting information only to areas that a usercares about, according to one embodiment.

In effect, the radial algorithm (e.g., the Bezier curve algorithm 240 ofFIG. 2) of the emergency response server enables users to notify peoplearound locations that are cared about (e.g., around where they live,work, and/or where they are physically located). In one embodiment, theuser 116 can be provided ‘feedback’ and/or a communication that theneighbor 128 may be responding to the emergency after the neighborhoodbroadcast data may be delivered to the recipients (e.g., other users ofthe neighborhood communication system 150 such as neighbors 128 ofFIG. 1) and/or to the neighborhood services using the social communitymodule 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2using a series of modules working in concert as described in FIG. 2) ofthe privacy server 100. For example, after the neighborhood broadcastdata may be delivered, the device (e.g., the device 1806, the device1808 of FIG. 18) (e.g., a mobile version of the device 1806 of FIG. 18(e.g., a mobile phone, a tablet computer)) may display a message saying:“3256 neighbors around a 1 radius from you have been notified on theirprofile pages of your crime broadcast in Menlo Park and 4 people areresponding” and/or “8356 neighbors and two hospitals around a 2.7 radiusfrom you have been notified of your medical emergency.”

The various embodiments described herein of the privacy server 100 usingthe social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may solve a central problem of internet radioservice providers (e.g., Pandora) by retaining cultural significancerelated to a person's locations of association. For example, the socialcommunity module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curve algorithm 240of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert as described inFIG. 2) may be used to ‘create’ new radio stations, television stations,and/or mini alert broadcasts to a geospatially constrained area on oneend, and provide a means for those ‘tuning in’ to consume informationposted in a geospatial area that the listener cares about and/orassociates themselves with. The information provided can be actionablein that the user 116 may be able to secure new opportunities throughface to face human interaction and physical meeting not otherwisepossible in internet radio scenarios.

The radial algorithm (e.g., the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2)may be a set of instructions that may enable users (e.g., verifiedusers, non-verified users) of the Nextdoor.com and Fatdoor.com websitesand applications to broadcast their activities (e.g., garage sale,t-shirt sale, crime alert) to surrounding neighbors within a claimedneighborhood and to guests of a claimed neighborhood, according to oneembodiment. The radial algorithm (e.g., the Bezier curve algorithm 240of FIG. 2) may be new because current technology does not allow forusers of a network (e.g., Nextdoor.com, Fatdoor.com) to locallybroadcast their activity to a locally defined geospatial area. With theradial algorithm (e.g., the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2), usersof the network may communicate with one another in a locally definedmanner, which may present more relevant information and activities,according to one embodiment. For example, if a verified user of thenetwork broadcasts an emergency, locally defined neighbors of theverified user may be much more interested in responding than if theyobserved an emergency on a general news broadcast on traditional radio,according to one embodiment. The social community module 106 may solvethe problem of neighbors living in the locally defined geospatial areawho don't typically interact, and allows them to connect within avirtual space that did not exist before, according to one embodiment.Community boards (e.g., stolen or missing item boards) may have been aprimary method of distributing content in a surrounding neighborhoodeffectively prior to the disclosures described herein. However, therewas no way to easily distribute content related to exigent circumstancesand/or with urgency in a broadcast-like manner to those listening arounda neighborhood through mobile devices until the various embodimentsapplying the social community module 106 as described herein.

A Bezier curve algorithm 240 may be a method of calculating a sequenceof operations, and in this case a sequence of radio operations,according to one embodiment. Starting from an initial state and initialinput, the Bezier curve algorithm 240 describes a computation that, whenexecuted, proceeds through a finite number of well-defined successivestates, eventually producing radial patterned distribution (e.g.,simulating a local radio station), according to one embodiment.

The privacy server 100 may solve technical challenges through the socialcommunity module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curve algorithm 240of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert as described inFIG. 2) by implementing a vigorous screening process to screen out anylewd or vulgar content in one embodiment. For example, what may beconsidered lewd content sometimes could be subjective, and verifiedusers could argue that the operator of the privacy server 100 isrestricting their constitutional right to freedom of speech (e.g., ifthe emergency response server is operated by a government entity)through a crowd-moderation capability enabled by the social communitymodule 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2using a series of modules working in concert as described in FIG. 2),according to one embodiment. In one embodiment, verified users may signan electronic agreement to screen their content and agree that theneighborhood communication system 150 may delete any content that itdeems inappropriate for broadcasting, through the social communitymodule 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2using a series of modules working in concert as described in FIG. 2)according to one embodiment. For example, it may be determined that alost item such as a misplaced set of car keys does not qualify as an“emergency” that should be broadcast.

The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2), in addition to neighborhood broadcasts (e.g., suchas emergency broadcasts), may allow verified users to create andbroadcast their own radio show, e.g., music, talk show, commercial,instructional contents, etc., and to choose their neighborhood(s) forbroadcasting based on a claimed location, according to one embodiment.The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may allow users to choose the neighborhoods thatthey would want to receive the broadcasts, live and recorded broadcasts,and/or the types and topics (e.g., minor crimes, property crimes,medical emergencies) of broadcasts that interest them.

The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) based approach of the privacy server 100 may be acompletely different concept from the currently existing neighborhood(e.g., geospatial) social networking options. The social communitymodule 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2using a series of modules working in concert as described in FIG. 2) mayalso allow the user to create his/her own radio station, televisionstation and/or other content such as the neighborhood broadcast data anddistribute this content around locations to users and preseeded profilesaround them. For example, the user may wish to broadcast their livereporting of a structure fire or interview eye-witnesses to a robbery.The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) can allow verified users to create their contentand broadcast in the selected geospatial area. It also allows verifiedlisteners to listen to only the relevant local broadcasts of theirchoice.

The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may be important because it may provide anyverified user the opportunity to create his/her own radial broadcastmessage (e.g., can be audio, video, pictorial and/or textual content)and distribute this content to a broad group. Social community module106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using aseries of modules working in concert as described in FIG. 2) may alsoallow verified listeners to listen to any missed live broadcasts throughthe prerecorded features, according to one embodiment. Through this, thesocial community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) changes the way social networks (e.g., Nextdoor®,Fatdoor®, Facebook®, Path®, etc.) operate by enabling location centricbroadcasting to regions that a user cares about, according to oneembodiment. Social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Beziercurve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working inconcert as described in FIG. 2) may solve a technical challenge bydefining ranges based on a type of an emergency type, a type ofneighborhood, and/or boundary condition of a neighborhood by analyzingwhether the neighborhood broadcast data may be associated with aparticular kind of recipient, a particular neighborhood, a temporallimitation, and/or through another criteria.

By using the social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Beziercurve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working inconcert as described in FIG. 2) of the privacy server 100 the user 116may be able to filter irrelevant offers and information provided bybroadcasts. In one embodiment, only the broadcasting user (e.g., theuser 116) may be a verified user to create accountability for aparticular broadcast and/or credibility of the broadcaster. In thisembodiment, recipients (e.g., other users of the neighborhoodcommunication system 150 such as neighbors 128 of FIG. 1) of thebroadcast may not need to be verified users of the emergency responsenetwork. By directing traffic and organizing the onslaught ofbroadcasts, the social community module 106 (e.g., that applies theBezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules workingin concert as described in FIG. 2) of the privacy server 100 may be ableto identify the origins and nature of each group of incoming informationand locate recipients (e.g., other users of the neighborhoodcommunication system 150 such as neighbors 128 of FIG. 1) that arerelevant/interested in the neighborhood broadcast data, maximizing theeffective use of each broadcast. For example, the neighbor 128 may beable to specify that they own a firearm so that they would be a relevantneighbor 128 for broadcast data to respond to a school shooting. Inanother example, a neighbor 128 may specify that they are a medicalprofessional (e.g., paramedic, physician) such that they may receivemedical emergency broadcasts, according to one embodiment.

The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) of the privacy server 100 may process the inputdata from the device (e.g., the device 1806, the device 1808 of FIG. 18)(e.g., a mobile version of the device 1806 of FIG. 18 (e.g., a mobilephone, a tablet computer)) in order to identify which notification(s) tobroadcast to which individual(s). This may be separate from atraditional radio broadcast as it not only geographically constrainsbroadcasters and recipients (e.g., other users of the neighborhoodcommunication system 150 such as neighbors 128 of FIG. 1) but also makesuse of user preferences in order to allow broadcasters to target anoptimal audience and allow recipients (e.g., other users of theneighborhood communication system 150 such as neighbors 128 of FIG. 1)to alter and customize what they consume. The user 116 may associatehim/herself with a non-transitory address in order to remain constantlyconnected to their neighborhood and/or neighbors even when theythemselves or their neighbors are away. The Bezier curve algorithm 240may be also unique from a neighborhood social network (e.g., the privacyserver 100) as it permits users to broadcast emergencies, information,audio, video etc. to other users, allowing users to create their ownstations.

In order to implement the social community module 106 (e.g., thatapplies the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series ofmodules working in concert as described in FIG. 2), geospatial data mayneed to be collected and amassed in order to create a foundation onwhich users may sign up and verify themselves by claiming a specificaddress, associating themselves with that geospatial location. Thesocial community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may then be able to utilize the geospatial database122 to filter out surrounding noise and deliver only relevant data torecipients (e.g., other users of the neighborhood communication system150 such as neighbors 128 of FIG. 1). In order to accomplish this, thesocial community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may be able to verify the reliability of geospatialcoordinates, time stamps, and user information associated with thedevice (e.g., the device 1806, the device 1808 of FIG. 18) (e.g., amobile version of the device 1806 of FIG. 18 (e.g., a mobile phone, atablet computer)). In addition, threshold geospatial radii, privateneighborhood boundaries, and personal preferences may be established inthe privacy server 100 and accommodated using the social communitymodule 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2using a series of modules working in concert as described in FIG. 2).The geospatial database 122 may work in concert with the socialcommunity module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curve algorithm 240of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert as described inFIG. 2) to store, organize, and manage broadcasts, pushpins, userprofiles, preseeded user profiles, metadata, and epicenter locationsassociated with the privacy server 100 (e.g., a neighborhood socialnetwork such as Fatdoor.com, Nextdoor.com).

The Bezier curve algorithm 240 may be used to calculate relativedistances between each one of millions of records as associated witheach placed geo-spatial coordinate in the privacy server 100 (e.g., aneighborhood social network such as Fatdoor.com, Nextdoor.com).Calculations of relative distance between each geospatial coordinate canbe a large computational challenge because of the high number of reads,writes, modify, and creates associated with each geospatial coordinateadded to the privacy server 100 and subsequent recalculations ofsurrounding geospatial coordinates associated with other users and/orother profile pages based a relative distance away from a newly addedset of geospatial coordinates (e.g., associated with the neighborhoodbroadcast data and/or with other pushpin types). To overcome thiscomputational challenge, the radial algorithm (e.g., the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2) may leverage a massively parallel computingarchitecture 146 through which processing functions are distributedacross a large set of processors accessed in a distributed computingsystem 148 through the network 104.

In order to achieve the utilization of the massively parallel computingarchitecture 146 in a context of a radial distribution function of aprivacy server 100, a number of technical challenges have been overcomein at least one embodiment. Particularly, the social community module106 constructs a series of tables based on an ordered geospatial rankingbased on frequency of interaction through a set of ‘n’ number of userssimultaneously interacting with the privacy server 100, in one preferredembodiment. In this manner, sessions of access between the privacyserver 100 and users of the privacy server 100 (e.g., the user 116) maybe monitored based on geospatial claimed areas of the user (e.g., aclaimed work and/or home location of the user), and/or a presentgeospatial location of the user. In this manner, tables associated withdata related to claimed geospatial areas of the user and/or the presentgeospatial location of the user may be anticipatorily cached in thememory 124 to ensure that a response time of the privacy server 100 maybe not constrained by delays caused by extraction, retrieval, andtransformation of tables that are not likely to be required for acurrent and/or anticipated set of sessions between users and the privacyserver 100.

In a preferred embodiment, an elastic computing environment may be usedby the social community module 106 to provide for increase/decreases ofcapacity within minutes of a database function requirement. In thismanner, the social community module 106 can adapt to workload changesbased on number of requests of processing simultaneous and/or concurrentrequests associated with neighborhood broadcast data by provisioning andde-provisioning resources in an autonomic manner, such that at eachpoint in time the available resources match the current demand asclosely as possible.

The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may be a concept whereby a server communicatingdata to a dispersed group of recipients (e.g., other users of theneighborhood communication system 150 such as neighbors 128 of FIG. 1)over a network 104, which may be an internet protocol based wide areanetwork (as opposed to a network communicating by radio frequencycommunications) communicates that data only to ageospatially-constrained group of recipients (e.g., other users of theneighborhood communication system 150 such as neighbors 128 of FIG. 1).The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may apply a geospatial constraint related to aradial distance away from an origin point, or a constraint related toregional, state, territory, county, municipal, neighborhood, building,community, district, locality, and/or other geospatial boundaries.

The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may be new as applied to data traveling over widearea networks using internet protocol topology in a geospatial socialnetworking and commerce context, according to one embodiment. Whileradio broadcasts, by their nature, are transmitted in a radial patternsurrounding the origin point, there may be no known mechanism forrestricting access to the data only to verified users of a servicesubscribing to the broadcast. As applied to wired computer networks,while techniques for applying geospatial constraints have been appliedto search results, and to other limited uses, there has as yet been noapplication of geospatial constraint as applied to the variousembodiments described herein using the social community module 106(e.g., that applies the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using aseries of modules working in concert as described in FIG. 2).

The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may be roughly analogous to broadcast radiocommunications such as a) in broadcast radio, b) in wireless computernetworking, and c) in mobile telephony. However, all of these systemsbroadcast their information promiscuously, making the data transmittedavailable to anyone within range of the transmitter who may be equippedwith the appropriate receiving device. In contrast, the social communitymodule 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2using a series of modules working in concert as described in FIG. 2)herein describes a system in which networks are used to transmit data ina selective manner in that information may be distributed around aphysical location of homes or businesses in areas of interest/relevancy.

The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may solve a problem of restricting data transmittedover networks to specific users who are within a specified distance fromthe individual who originates the data. In a broad sense, by enablingcommerce and communications that are strictly limited within definedneighborhood boundaries, the social community module 106 (e.g., thatapplies the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series ofmodules working in concert as described in FIG. 2) may enable theprivacy server 100 (e.g., a neighborhood social network such asFatdoor.com, Nextdoor.com) communications, attacking the serious socialconditions of anonymity and disengagement in community that afflict thenation and, increasingly, the world.

The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may comprise one or more modules that instruct theprivacy server 100 to restrict the broadcasting of the neighborhoodbroadcast data to one or more parts of the geospatial area 117. Forexample, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the social community module 106(e.g., that applies the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using aseries of modules working in concert as described in FIG. 2) mayinstruct the privacy server 100 to broadcast the neighborhood broadcastdata to the recipients (e.g., other users of the neighborhoodcommunication system 150 such as neighbors 128 of FIG. 1) but not to thearea outside the threshold radial distance 115.

In one or more embodiments, the social community module 106 (e.g., thatapplies the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series ofmodules working in concert as described in FIG. 2) may allow the privacyserver 100 to function in manner that simulates a traditional radiobroadcast (e.g., using a radio tower to transmit a radio frequencysignal) in that both the privacy server 100 and the radio broadcast arerestricted in the geospatial scope of the broadcast transmission. In oneor more embodiments, the social community module 106 (e.g., that appliesthe Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modulesworking in concert as described in FIG. 2) may prevent the broadcast ofthe neighborhood broadcast data to any geospatial area to which the user116 does not wish to transmit the neighborhood broadcast data, and/or tousers that have either muted and/or selectively subscribed to a set ofbroadcast feeds.

The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may analyze the neighborhood broadcast data todetermine which recipients (e.g., other users of the neighborhoodcommunication system 150 such as neighbors 128 of FIG. 1) may receivenotification data 112 within the threshold radial distance (e.g., set bythe user 116 and/or auto calculated based on a type of emergencyposting). The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Beziercurve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working inconcert as described in FIG. 2) may use a variety of parameters,including information associated with the neighborhood broadcast data(e.g., location of the broadcast, type of broadcast, etc.) to determinethe threshold radial distance.

The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may also determine which verified addressesassociated with recipients (e.g., other users of the neighborhoodcommunication system 150 such as neighbors 128 of FIG. 1) havingverified user profiles are located within the threshold radial distance.The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may then broadcast the notification data 112 to theprofiles and/or mobile devices of the verified users having verifiedaddresses within the threshold radial distance.

The social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may therefore simulate traditional radiobroadcasting (e.g., from a radio station transmission tower) over the IPnetwork. Thus, the social community module 106 (e.g., that applies theBezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules workingin concert as described in FIG. 2) may allow the broadcast to includeinformation and data that traditional radio broadcasts may not be ableto convey, for example geospatial coordinates and/or real-timebi-directional communications. Additionally, the social community module106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using aseries of modules working in concert as described in FIG. 2) may allowindividual users low-entry broadcast capability without resort toexpensive equipment and/or licensing by the Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC).

Another advantage of this broadcast via the social community module 106(e.g., that applies the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using aseries of modules working in concert as described in FIG. 2) may be thatit may bypass obstructions that traditionally disrupt radio waves suchas mountains and/or atmospheric disturbances. Yet another advantage ofthe social community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may be that it may expand the physical distance ofbroadcast capability without resort to the expense ordinarily associatedwith generating powerful carrier signals. In yet another advantage, thesocial community module 106 (e.g., that applies the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of FIG. 2 using a series of modules working in concert asdescribed in FIG. 2) may allow for almost unlimited channels and/orstations as compared to traditional radio where only a narrow band ofelectromagnetic radiation has been appropriated for use among a smallnumber of entities by government regulators (e.g., the FCC).

The claimable module 110 may enable the registered users to createand/or update their information. A ‘claimable’ (e.g., may be enabledthrough the claimable module 110) can be defined as a perpetualcollective work of many authors. Similar to a blog in structure andlogic, a claimable allows anyone to edit, delete or modify content thathas been placed on the Web site using a browser interface, including thework of previous authors. In contrast, a blog (e.g., or a social networkpage), typically authored by an individual, may not allow visitors tochange the original posted material, only add comments to the originalcontent. The term claimable refers to either the web site or thesoftware used to create the site. The term ‘claimable’ also implies fastcreation, ease of creation, and community approval in many softwarecontexts (e.g., claimable means “quick” in Hawaiian).

The commerce module 112 may provide an advertisement system to abusiness that may enable the users to purchase location in theneighborhood(s) 102. The map module 114 may be indulged in study,practice, representing and/or generating maps, or globes. The user 116may be an individuals and/or households that may purchase and/or usegoods and services and/or be an active member of any group or communityand/or resident and/or a part of any neighborhood(s) 102. The residence118 may be a house, a place to live and/or like a nursing home in aneighborhood(s) 102.

The community center 120 may be public locations where members of acommunity may gather for group activities, social support, publicinformation, and other purposes. The business 122 may be a customerservice, finance, sales, production, communications/public relationsand/or marketing organization that may be located in the neighborhood(s)102. The advertiser(s) 124 may be an individual and/or a firm drawingpublic who may be responsible in encouraging the people attention togoods and/or services by promoting businesses, and/or may performthrough a variety of media. The mapping server 126 may contain thedetails/maps of any area, region and/or neighborhood. The socialcommunity module 106 of the privacy server 100 may communicate with theneighborhood(s) 102 through the network 104 and/or the search module108. The social community module 106 of the privacy server 100 maycommunicate with the advertiser(s) 124 through the commerce module, thedatabase of neighbors 128 (e.g., occupant data) and/or mapping server126 through the map module 114.

For example, the neighborhoods 102A-N may have registered users and/orunregistered users of a privacy server 100. Also, the social communitymodule 106 of the privacy server 100 may generate a building creator(e.g., building builder 1602 of FIG. 16) in which the registered usersmay create and/or modify empty claimable profiles, building layouts,social network pages, and/or floor levels structures housing residentsand/or businesses in the neighborhood.

In addition, the claimable module 110 of the privacy server 100 mayenable the registered users to create a social network page ofthemselves, and/or may edit information associated with the unregisteredusers identifiable through a viewing of physical properties in which,the unregistered users reside when the registered users have knowledgeof characteristics associated with the unregistered users.

Furthermore, the search module 108 of the privacy server 100 may enablea people search (e.g., the people search widget 300 of FIG. 3), abusiness search (e.g., the business search module 302 of FIG. 3), and/ora category search (e.g., the category search widget 304 of FIG. 3) ofany data in the social community module 106 and/or may enable embeddingof any content in the privacy server 100 in other search engines, blogs,social networks, professional networks and/or static websites.

The commerce module 112 of the privacy server 100 may provide anadvertisement system to a business who purchase their location in theprivacy server 100 in which the advertisement may be viewableconcurrently with a map indicating a location of the business, and/or inwhich revenue may be attributed to the privacy server 100 when theregistered users and/or the unregistered users click-in on asimultaneously displayed data of the advertisement along with the mapindicating a location of the business.

Moreover, a map module 114 of the privacy server 100 may include a mapdata associated with a satellite data (e.g., generated by the satellitedata module 600 of FIG. 6) which may serve as a basis of rendering themap in the privacy server 100 and/or which includes a simplified mapgenerator which may transform the map to a fewer color and/or locationcomplex form using a parcel data which identifies some residence, civic,and/or business locations in the satellite data.

In addition, a first instruction set may enable a social network toreside above a map data, in which the social network may be associatedwith specific geographical locations identifiable in the map data. Also,a second instruction set integrated with the first instruction set mayenable users of the social network to create profiles of other peoplethrough a forum which provides a free form of expression of the userssharing information about any entities and/or people residing in anygeographical location identifiable in the satellite map data, and/or toprovide a technique of each of the users to claim a geographic location(e.g., a geographic location 1024 of FIG. 12A) to control content intheir respective claimed geographic locations (e.g., a geographiclocation 1024 of FIG. 12A).

Furthermore, a third instruction set integrated with the firstinstruction set and the second instruction set may enable searching ofpeople in the privacy server 100 by indexing each of the data shared bythe user 116 of any of the people and/or the entities residing in anygeographic location (e.g., a geographic location 1024 of FIG. 12A). Afourth instruction set may provide a moderation of content about eachother posted of the users 116 through trusted users of the privacyserver 100 who have an ability to ban specific users and/or delete anyoffensive and libelous content in the privacy server 100.

Also, a fifth instruction set may enable an insertion of any contentgenerated in the privacy server 100 in other search engines through asyndication and/or advertising relationship between the privacy server100 and/or other internet commerce and search portals.

Moreover, a sixth instruction set may grow the social network throughneighborhood groups, local politicians, block watch communities, issueactivism groups, and neighbor(s) 120 who invite other known partiesand/or members to share profiles of themselves and/or learncharacteristics and information about other supporters and/or residentsin a geographic area of interest through the privacy server 100.

Also, a seventh instruction set may determine quantify an effect on atleast one of a desirability of a location, a popularity of a location,and a market value of a location based on an algorithm that considers anumber of demographic and social characteristics of a region surroundingthe location through a reviews module.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the social community module 106 of FIG. 1,according to one embodiment. Particularly FIG. 2 illustrates a buildingbuilder module 200, an N^(th) degree module 202, a tagging module 204, averify module 206, a groups generator module 208, a pushpin module 210,a profile module 212, an announce module 214, a people database 216, aplaces database 218, a business database 220, a friend finder module 222and a neighbor-neighbor help module 224, according to one embodiment.

The N^(th) degree module 202 may enable the particular registered userto communicate with an unknown registered user through a commonregistered user who may be a friend and/or a member of a commoncommunity. The tagging module 204 may enable the user 116 to leave briefcomments on each of the claimable profiles (e.g., the claimable profile1206 of FIG. 12A-12B, the claimable profile 1302 of FIG. 13A, theclaimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17) and social network pages in theglobal neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG.1).

The verify module 206 may validate the data, profiles and/or emailaddresses received from various registered user(s) before any changesmay be included. The groups generator module 208 may enable theregistered users to form groups may be depending on common interest,culture, style, hobbies and/or caste. The pushpin module 210 maygenerate customized indicators of different types of users, locations,and interests directly in the map. The profile module 212 may enable theuser to create a set of profiles of the registered users and to submitmedia content of themselves, identifiable through a map.

The announce module 214 may distribute a message in a specified range ofdistance away from the registered users when a registered user purchasesa message to communicate to certain ones of the registered userssurrounding a geographic vicinity adjacent to the particular registereduser originating the message. The people database 216 may keep recordsof the visitor/users (e.g., a user 116 of FIG. 1). The places databasemodule 218 may manage the data related to the location of the user(e.g., address of the registered user). The business database 220 maymanage an extensive list of leading information related to business. Thefriend finder module 222 may match the profile of the registered userwith common interest and/or help the registered user to get in touchwith new friends or acquaintances.

For example, the verify module 206 of the social community module 106 ofFIG. 1 may authenticate an email address of a registered user prior toenabling the registered user to edit information associated with theunregistered users through an email response and/or a digital signaturetechnique. The groups generator module 208 of the social communitymodule (e.g., the social community module 106 of FIG. 1) may enable theregistered users to form groups with each other surrounding at least oneof a common neighborhood (e.g., a neighborhood 102A-N of FIG. 1),political, cultural, educational, professional and/or social interest.

In addition, the tagging module 204 of the social community module(e.g., the social community module 106 of FIG. 1) may enable theregistered users and/or the unregistered users to leave brief commentson each of the claimable profiles (e.g., the claimable profile 1206 ofFIG. 12A-12B, the claimable profile 1302 of FIG. 13A, the claimableprofile 1704 of FIG. 17) and/or social network pages in the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1), inwhich the brief comments may be simultaneously displayed when a pointingdevice rolls over a pushpin indicating a physical property associatedwith any of the registered users and/or the unregistered users. Also,the pushpin module 210 of the social community module 106 of FIG. 1 maybe generating customized indicators of different types of users,locations, and/or interests directly in the map.

Further, the announce module 214 of the social community module 106 ofFIG. 1 may distribute a message in a specified range of distance awayfrom the registered users when a registered user purchases a message tocommunicate to certain ones of the registered users surrounding ageographic vicinity adjacent to the particular registered useroriginating the message, wherein the particular registered userpurchases the message through a governmental currency and/or a number oftokens collected by the particular user (e.g. the user 116 of FIG. 1)through a creation of content in the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1).

In addition, the N^(th) degree module 202 of the social community module106 of FIG. 1 may enable the particular registered user to communicatewith an unknown registered user through a common registered user knownby the particular registered user and/or the unknown registered userthat is an N^(th) degree of separation away from the particularregistered user and/or the unknown registered user.

Moreover, the profile module 212 of the social community module 106 ofFIG. 1 may create a set of profiles of each one of the registered usersand to enable each one of the registered users to submit media contentof themselves, other registered users, and unregistered usersidentifiable through the map.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the search module 108 of FIG. 1, accordingto one embodiment. Particularly FIG. 3 illustrates a people searchwidget 300, a business search module 302, a category search widget 304,a communication module 306, a directory assistance module 308, anembedding module 310, a no-match module 312, a range selector module314, a chat widget 316, a group announcement widget 318, a Voice Over IPwidget 320, according to one embodiment.

The people search widget 300 may help in getting the information likethe address, phone number and/or e-mail id of the people of particularinterest from a group and/or community. The business search module 302may help the users (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) to find the companies,products, services, and/or business related information they need toknow about.

The category search widget 304 may narrow down searches from a broaderscope (e.g., if one is interested in information from a particularcenter, one can go to the category under the center and enter one'squery there and it will return results from that particular categoryonly). The communication module 306 may provide/facilitate multiple bywhich one can communicate, people to communicate with, and subjects tocommunicate about among different members of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1).

The directory assistance module 308 may provide voice responseassistance to users (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) assessable through aweb and telephony interface of any category, business and search queriesof user's of any search engine contents. The embedding module 310 mayautomatically extract address and/or contact info from other socialnetworks, search engines, and content providers.

The no-match module 312 may request additional information from averified registered user (e.g., a verified registered user 1310 of FIG.13A-B, a verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) about a person,place, and business having no listing in the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) when no matches arefound in a search query of the verified registered user (e.g., averified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, a verified registered user1310 of FIG. 16).

The chat widget 316 may provide people to chat online, which is a way ofcommunicating by broadcasting messages to people on the same site inreal time. The group announcement widget 318 may communicate with agroup and/or community in may be by Usenet, Mailing list, calling and/orE-mail message sent to notify subscribers. The Voice over IP widget 320may help in routing of voice conversations over the Internet and/orthrough any other IP-based network. The communication module 306 maycommunicate directly with the people search widget 300, the businesssearch module 302, the category search widget 304, the directoryassistance module 308, the embedding module 310 may communicate with theno-match module 312 through the range selector module 314.

For example, a search module 108 of the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) may enable the people search,the business search, and the category search of any data in the socialcommunity module (e.g., the social community module 106 of FIG. 1)and/or may enable embedding of any content in the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) in other searchengines, blogs, social networks, professional networks and/or staticwebsites.

In addition, the communicate module 306 of the search module 106 mayenable voice over internet, live chat, and/or group announcementfunctionality in the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacyserver 100 of FIG. 1) among different members of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1).

Also, the directory assistance module 308 of the search module 108 mayprovide voice response assistance to users (e.g., the user 116 ofFIG. 1) assessable through a web and/or telephony interface of anycategory, business, community, and residence search queries of users(e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) of any search engine embedding content ofthe global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 ofFIG. 1).

The embedding module 310 of the search module 108 may automaticallyextract address and/or contact info from other social networks, searchengines, and content providers, and/or to enable automatic extraction ofgroup lists from contact databases of instant messaging platforms.

Furthermore, the no-match module 312 of the search module 108 to requestadditional information from the verified registered user (e.g., theverified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B) about a person, place,and/or business having no listing in the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) when no matches are found in asearch query of the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 16) and to create a new claimable page based on a response of theverified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) about the atleast one person, place, and/or business not previously indexed in theglobal neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG.1).

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the claimable module 110 of FIG. 1,according to one embodiment. Particularly FIG. 4 illustrates auser-place claimable module 400, a user-user claimable module 402, auser-neighbor claimable module 404, a user-business claimable module406, a reviews module 408, a defamation prevention module 410, aclaimable-social network conversion module 412, a claim module 414, adata segment module 416, a dispute resolution module 418 and a mediamanage module 420, according to one embodiment.

The user-place claimable module 400 may manage the information of theuser (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) location in the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1). The user-userclaimable module 402 may manage the user (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1)to view a profile of another user and geographical location in theneighborhood. The user-neighbor claimable module 404 may manage the user(e.g., the users 116 of FIG. 1) to view the profile of the registeredneighbor and/or may trace the geographical location of the user in theglobal neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG.1). The user-business claimable module 406 may manage the profile of theuser (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) managing a commercial business inthe neighborhood environment. The reviews module 408 may provideremarks, local reviews and/or ratings of various businesses ascontributed by the users (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) of the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1). Thedefamation prevention module 410 may enable the registered users tomodify the information associated with the unregistered usersidentifiable through the viewing of the physical properties.

The claimable-social network conversion module 412 of the claimablemodule 110 of FIG. 1 may transform the claimable profiles (e.g., theclaimable profile 1206 of FIG. 12A-12B, the claimable profile 1302 ofFIG. 13A, the claimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17) to social networkprofiles when the registered users claim the claimable profiles (e.g.,the claimable profile 1206 of FIG. 12A-12B, the claimable profile 1302of FIG. 13A, the claimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17).

The claim module 414 may enable the unregistered users to claim thephysical properties associated with their residence (e.g., the residence118 of FIG. 1). The dispute resolution module 418 may determine alegitimate user among different unregistered users who claim a samephysical property. The media manage module 420 may allow users (e.g.,the user 116 of FIG. 1) to manage and/or review a list any product fromproduct catalog using a fully integrated, simple to use interface.

The media manage module 420 may communicate with the user-placeclaimable module 400, user-place claimable module 400, user-userclaimable module 402, the user-neighbor claimable module 404 and thereviews module 408 through user-business claimable module 406. Theuser-place claimable module 400 may communicate with the disputeresolution module 418 through the claim module 414. The user-userclaimable module 402 may communicate with the data segment module 416through the claimable-social network conversion module 412. Theuser-neighbor claimable module 404 may communicate with the defamationprevention module 410. The user-business claimable module 406 maycommunicate with the reviews module 408. The claimable-social networkconversion module 412 may communicate with the claim module 414.

For example, the claimable module 110 of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) may enable theregistered users to create the social network page of themselves, andmay edit information associated with the unregistered users identifiablethrough a viewing of physical properties in which the unregistered usersreside when the registered users have knowledge of characteristicsassociated with the unregistered users. Also, the claim module 414 ofclaimable module 110 may enable the unregistered users to claim thephysical properties associated with their residence.

Furthermore, the dispute resolution module 418 of the claimable module110 may determine a legitimate user of different unregistered users whoclaim a same physical property. The defamation prevention module 410 ofthe claimable module 110 may enable the registered users to modify theinformation associated with the unregistered users identifiable throughthe viewing of the physical properties, and/or to enable registered uservoting of an accuracy of the information associated with theunregistered users.

Moreover, the reviews module of the claimable module 110 may providecomments, local reviews and/or ratings of various businesses ascontributed by the registered users and/or unregistered users of theglobal network environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1). Theclaimable-social network conversion module 412 of the claimable module110 of FIG. 1 may transform the claimable profiles (e.g., the claimableprofile 1206 of FIG. 12A-12B, the claimable profile 1302 of FIG. 13A,the claimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17) to social network profiles whenthe registered users claim the claimable profiles (e.g., the claimableprofile 1206 of FIG. 12A-12B, the claimable profile 1302 of FIG. 13A,the claimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17).

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the commerce module 112 of FIG. 1,according to one embodiment. Particularly FIG. 5 illustrates a residentannounce payment module 500, a business display advertisement module502, a geo position advertisement ranking module 504, a contentsyndication module 506, a text advertisement module 508, a communitymarketplace module 510, a click-in tracking module 512, a click-throughtracking module 514, according to one embodiment.

The community marketplace module 510 may contain garage sales 516, afree stuff 518, a block party 520 and a services 522, according to oneembodiment. The geo-position advertisement ranking module 504 maydetermine an order of the advertisement in a series of otheradvertisements provided in the global neighborhood environment (e.g.,the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) by other advertisers. Theclick-through tracking module 514 may determine a number ofclicks-through from the advertisement to a primary website of thebusiness.

A click-in tracking module 512 may determine a number of user (e.g., theuser 116 of FIG. 1) who clicked in to the advertisement simultaneously.The community marketplace module 510 may provide a forum in which theregistered users can trade and/or announce messages of trading eventswith at least each other. The content syndication module 506 may enableany data in the commerce module (e.g., the commerce module 112 of FIGS.1, 5) to be syndicated to other network based trading platforms.

The business display advertisement module 502 may impart advertisementsrelated to business (e.g., the business 122 of FIG. 1), publicrelations, personal selling, and/or sales promotion to promotecommercial goods and services. The text advertisement module 508 mayenable visibility of showing advertisements in the form of text in alldynamically created pages in the directory. The resident announcepayment module 500 may take part as component in a broader and complexprocess, like a purchase, a contract, etc.

The block party 520 may be a large public celebration in which manymembers of a single neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-N ofFIG. 1) congregate to observe a positive event of some importance. Thefree stuff 518 may be the free services (e.g., advertisement, links,etc.) available on the net. The garage sales 516 may be services thatmay be designed to make the process of advertising and/or may find agarage sale more efficient and effective. The services 522 may benon-material equivalent of a good designed to provide a list of servicesthat may be available for the user (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1).

The geo position advertisement ranking module 504 may communicate withthe resident announce payment module 500, the business displayadvertisement module 502, the content syndication module 506, the textadvertisement module 508, the community marketplace module 510, theclick-in tracking module 512 and the click-through tracking module 514.

For example, the commerce module 108 of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) may provide anadvertisement system to a business which may purchase their location inthe global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 ofFIG. 1) in which the advertisement may be viewable concurrently with amap indicating a location of the business, and/or in which revenue maybe attributed to the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacyserver 100 of FIG. 1) when the registered users and/or the unregisteredusers click-in on a simultaneously displayed data of the advertisementalong with the map indicating a location of the business.

Also, the geo-position advertisement ranking module 504 of the commercemodule 112 to determine an order of the advertisement in a series ofother advertisements provided in the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) by other advertisers, whereinthe advertisement may be a display advertisement, a text advertisement,and/or an employment recruiting portal associated with the business thatmay be simultaneously displayed with the map indicating the location ofthe business.

Moreover, the click-through tracking module 514 of the commerce module112 of FIG. 1 may determine a number of click-through from theadvertisement to a primary website of the business. In addition, theclick in tracking module 512 of the commerce module 112 may determinethe number of users (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) who clicked in to theadvertisement simultaneously displayed with the map indicating thelocation of the business.

The community marketplace module 510 of the commerce module 112 of FIG.1 may provide a forum in which the registered users may trade and/orannounce messages of trading events with certain registered users ingeographic proximity from each other.

Also, the content syndication module 506 of the commerce module 112 ofthe FIG. 1 may enable any data in the commerce module 112 to besyndicated to other network based trading platforms.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of a map module 114 of FIG. 1, according toone embodiment. Particularly FIG. 6 may include a satellite data module600, a simplified map generator module 602, a cartoon map convertermodule 604, a profile pointer module 606, a parcel module 608 andoccupant module 610, according to one embodiment. The satellite datamodule 600 may help in mass broadcasting (e.g., maps) and/or astelecommunications relays in the map module 114 of FIG. 1.

The simplified map generator module 602 may receive the data (e.g.,maps) from the satellite data module 600 and/or may convert this complexmap into a simplified map with fewer colors. The cartoon map convertermodule 604 may apply a filter to the satellite data (e.g., datagenerated by the satellite data module 600 of FIG. 6) into a simplifiedpolygon based representation.

The parcel module 608 may identify some residence, civic, and businesslocations in the satellite data (e.g., the satellite data module 600 ofFIG. 6). The occupant module 610 may detect the geographical location ofthe registered user in the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theprivacy server 100 of FIG. 1). The profile pointer module 606 may detectthe profiles of the registered user via the data received from thesatellite. The cartoon map converter module 604 may communicate with,the satellite data module 600, the simplified map generator module 602,the profile pointer module 606 and the occupant module 610. The parcelmodule 608 may communicate with the satellite data module 600.

For example, a map module 114 of the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) may include a map dataassociated with a satellite data (e.g., data generated by the satellitedata module 600 of FIG. 6) which serves as a basis of rendering the mapin the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 ofFIG. 1) and/or which includes a simplified map generator (e.g., thesimplified map generator module 602 of FIG. 6) which may transform themap to a fewer color and location complex form using a parcel data whichidentifies residence, civic, and business locations in the satellitedata.

Also, the cartoon map converter module 604 in the map module 114 mayapply a filter to the satellite data (e.g., data generated by thesatellite data module 600 of FIG. 6) to transform the satellite datainto a simplified polygon based representation using a Bezier curvealgorithm that converts point data of the satellite data to a simplifiedform.

FIG. 7 is a table view of user address details, according to oneembodiment. Particularly the table 750 of FIG. 7 illustrates a userfield 700, a verified? field 702, a range field 704, a principle addressfield 706, a links field 708, a contributed? field 710 and an othersfield 712, according to one embodiment. The table 750 may include theinformation related to the address verification of the user (e.g., theuser 116 of FIG. 1). The user field 700 may include information such asthe names of the registered users in a global neighborhood environment(e.g., a privacy server 100 of FIG. 1).

The verified? field 702 may indicate the status whether the data,profiles and/or email address received from various registered user arevalidated or not. The range field 704 may correspond to the distance ofa particular registered user geographical location in the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1).

The principal address field 706 may display primary address of theregistered user in the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theprivacy server 100 of FIG. 1). The links field 708 may further give moreaccurate details and/or links of the address of the user (e.g., the user116 of FIG. 1). The contributed? field 710 may provide the user with thedetails of another individual and/or users contribution towards theneighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1). Theother(s) field 712 may display the details like the state, city, zipand/or others of the user's location in the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1).

The user field 700 displays “Joe” in the first row and “Jane” in thesecond row of the user field 700 column of the table 750 illustrated inFIG. 7. The verified field? 702 displays “Yes” in the first row and “No”in the second row of the verified? field 702 column of the table 750illustrated in FIG. 7. The range field 704 displays “5 miles” in thefirst row and “Not enabled” in the second row of the range field 704column of the table 750 illustrated in FIG. 7. The principal addressfield 706 displays “500 Clifford Cupertino, Calif.” in the first row and“500 Johnson Cupertino, Calif.” in the second row of the principleaddress field 706 column of the table 750 illustrated in FIG. 7. Thelinks field 708 displays “859 Bette, 854 Bette” in the first row and“851 Bette 100 Steven's Road” in the second row of the links field 708column of the table 750 illustrated in FIG. 7.

The contributed? field 710 displays “858 Bette Cupertino, Calif.,Farallone, Calif.” in the first row and “500 Hamilton, Palo Alto,Calif., 1905E. University” in the second row of the contributed field710 column of the table 750 illustrated in FIG. 7. The other(s) field712 displays “City, State, Zip, other” in the first row of the other(s)field 712 column of the table 750 illustrated in FIG. 7.

FIG. 8 is a user interface view of the social community module 106,according to one embodiment. The user interface view 850 may display theinformation associated with the social community module (e.g., thesocial community module 106 of FIG. 1). The user interface 850 maydisplay map of the specific geographic location associated with the userprofile of the social community module (e.g., the social communitymodule 106 of FIG. 1). The user interface view 850 may display the mapbased geographic location associated with the user profile (e.g., theuser profile 1200 of FIG. 12A) only after verifying the address of theregistered user of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theprivacy server 100 of FIG. 1).

In addition, the user interface 850 may provide a building creator(e.g., the building builder 1602 of FIG. 16), in which the registeredusers of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server100 of FIG. 1) may create and/or modify empty claimable profiles (e.g.,a claimable profile 1206 of FIG. 12A-12B, a claimable profile 1302 ofFIG. 13A, a claimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17), building layouts, socialnetwork pages, etc. The user interface view 850 of the social communitymodule 106 may enable access to the user (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1)to model a condo on any floor (e.g., basement, ground floor, firstfloor, etc.) selected through the drop down box by the registered userof the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 ofFIG. 1). The user interface 850 of the social community module (e.g.,the social community module 106 of FIG. 1) may enable the registereduser of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server100 of FIG. 1) to contribute information about their neighbors (e.g.,the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1).

FIG. 9 is a profile view 950 of a profile module 900, according to oneembodiment. The profile view 950 of profile module 900 may offer theregistered user to access the profile about the neighbors (e.g., theneighbor 120 of FIG. 1). The profile view 950 of profile module 900 mayindicate the information associated with the profile of the registereduser of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server100 of FIG. 1). The profile view 950 may display the address of theregistered user. The profile view 950 may also display events organizedby the neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1), history of theneighbors (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1), and/or may also offer theinformation (e.g., public, private, etc.) associated with the family ofthe neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) located in the localityof the user (e.g., the user(s) 116 of FIG. 1) of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1).

FIG. 10 is a contribute view 1050 of a neighborhood network module 1000,according to one embodiment. The contribute view 1050 of theneighborhood network module 1000 may enable the registered user of theglobal neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1)to add information about their neighbors in the neighborhood network.The contribute view 1050 of the neighborhood network module 1000 mayoffer registered user of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theprivacy server 100 of FIG. 1) to add valuable notes associated with thefamily, events, private information, etc.

FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic system view, according to one embodiment. FIG.11 is a diagrammatic system view 1100 of a data processing system inwhich any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be performed,according to one embodiment. Particularly, the system view 1100 of FIG.11 illustrates a processor 1102, a main memory 1104, a static memory1106, a bus 1108, a video display 1110, an alpha-numeric input device1112, a cursor control device 1114, a drive unit 1116, a signalgeneration device 1118, a network interface device 1120, a machinereadable medium 1122, instructions 1124, and a network 1126, accordingto one embodiment.

The diagrammatic system view 1100 may indicate a personal computerand/or a data processing system in which one or more operationsdisclosed herein are performed. The processor 1102 may bemicroprocessor, a state machine, an application specific integratedcircuit, a field programmable gate array, etc. (e.g., Intel® Pentium®processor). The main memory 1104 may be a dynamic random access memoryand/or a primary memory of a computer system.

The static memory 1106 may be a hard drive, a flash drive, and/or othermemory information associated with the data processing system. The bus1108 may be an interconnection between various circuits and/orstructures of the data processing system. The video display 1110 mayprovide graphical representation of information on the data processingsystem. The alpha-numeric input device 1112 may be a keypad, keyboardand/or any other input device of text (e.g., a special device to aid thephysically handicapped). The cursor control device 1114 may be apointing device such as a mouse.

The drive unit 1116 may be a hard drive, a storage system, and/or otherlonger term storage subsystem. The signal generation device 1118 may bea bios and/or a functional operating system of the data processingsystem. The machine readable medium 1122 may provide instructions onwhich any of the methods disclosed herein may be performed. Theinstructions 1124 may provide source code and/or data code to theprocessor 1102 to enable any one/or more operations disclosed herein.

FIG. 12A is a user interface view of mapping a user profile 1200 of thegeographic location 1204, according to one embodiment. In the exampleembodiment illustrated in FIG. 12A, the user profile 1200 may containthe information associated with the geographic location 1204. The userprofile 1200 may contain the information associated with the registereduser. The user profile 1200 may contain information such as address userof the specific geographic location, name of the occupant, profession ofthe occupant, details, phone number, educational qualification, etc.

The map 1202 may indicate the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theprivacy server 100 of FIG. 1) of the geographical location 1204, aclaimable profile 1206 (e.g., the claimable profile 1302 of FIG. 13A,the claimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17), and a delisted profile 1208. Thegeographical location 1204 may be associated with the user profile 1200.The claimable profile 1206 may be the claimable profile 1206 associatedwith the neighboring property surrounding the geographic location 1204.The delisted profile 1208 illustrated in example embodiment of FIG. 12A,may be the claimable profile 1206 that may be delisted when theregistered user claims the physical property. The block 1210 illustratedin the example embodiment of FIG. 12A may be associated with hobbies,personal likes, etc. The block 1216 may be associated with events,requirements, etc. that may be displayed by the members of the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1).

For example, a verified registered user (e.g., a verified registereduser 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, a verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) maybe associated with a user profile 1200. The user profile 1200 may beassociated with a specific geographic location. A map concurrentlydisplaying the user profile 1200 and the specific geographic location1204 may be generated. Also, the claimable profiles 1206 associated withdifferent geographic locations surrounding the specific geographiclocation associated with the user profile 1200 may be simultaneouslygenerated in the map. In addition, a query of the user profile 1200and/or the specific geographic location may be processed.

Similarly, a tag data (e.g., the tags 1210 of FIG. 12A) associated withthe specific geographic locations, a particular geographic location, andthe delisted geographic location may be processed. A frequent one of thetag data (e.g., the tags 1210 of FIG. 12A) may be displayed when thespecific geographic location and/or the particular geographic locationis made active, but not when a geographic location is delisted.

FIG. 12B is a user interface view of mapping of the claimable profile1206, according to one embodiment. In the example embodiment illustratedin FIG. 12B, the map 1202 may indicate the geographic locations in theglobal neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1)and/or may also indicate the geographic location of the claimableprofile 1206. The claimable profile 1206 may display the informationassociated with the registered user of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1). The link claimthis profile 1212 may enable the registered user to claim the claimableprofile 1206 and/or may also allow the verified registered user (e.g.,the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B) to edit any informationin the claimable profiles 1206. The block 1214 may display theinformation posted by any of the verified registered users (e.g., theverified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registereduser 1310 of FIG. 16) of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theprivacy server 100 of FIG. 1).

For example, a particular claimable profile (e.g., the particularclaimable profile may be associated with a neighboring property to thespecific property in the neighborhood) of the claimable profiles (e.g.,the claimable profile 1302 of FIG. 13A, the claimable profile 1704 ofFIG. 17) may be converted to another user profile (e.g., the userprofile may be tied to a specific property in a neighborhood) when adifferent registered user (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) claims aparticular geographic location to the specific geographic locationassociated with the particular claimable profile.

In addition, a certain claimable profile of the claimable profiles maybe delisted when a private registered user claims a certain geographiclocation (e.g., the geographical location 1204 of FIG. 12A) adjacent tothe specific geographic location and/or the particular geographiclocation. Also, the certain claimable profile in the map 1202 may bemasked when the certain claimable profile is delisted through therequest of the private registered user.

Furthermore, a tag data (e.g., the tags 1210 of FIG. 12A) associatedwith the specific geographic location, the particular geographiclocation, and the delisted geographic location may be processed. Afrequent one of the tag data may be displayed when the specificgeographic location and/or the particular geographic location are madeactive, but not when a geographic location is delisted.

Moreover, the verified registered user (e.g., the verified registereduser 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16)may be permitted to edit any information in the claimable profiles 1206including the particular claimable profile 1206 and/or the certainclaimable profile until the certain claimable profile may be claimed bythe different registered user and/or the private registered user. Inaddition, a claimant of any claimable profile 1206 may be enabled tocontrol what information is displayed on their user profile. Also, theclaimant may be allowed to segregate certain information on their userprofile 1200 such that only other registered users directly connected tothe claimant are able to view data on their user profile 1200.

FIG. 13A is a user interface view of mapping of a claimable profile 1302of the commercial user 1300, according to one embodiment. In the exampleembodiment illustrated in FIG. 13A, the commercial user 1300 may beassociated with the customizable business profile 1304 located in thecommercial geographical location. The claimable profile 1302 may containthe information associated with the commercial user 1300. The claimableprofile 1302 may contain the information such as address, name,profession, tag, details (e.g., ratings), and educational qualificationetc. of the commercial user 1300. The verified registered user 1310 maybe user associated with the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theprivacy server 100 of FIG. 1) and may communicate a message to theneighborhood commercial user 1300. For example, a payment of thecommercial user 1300 and the verified registered user 1310 may beprocessed.

FIG. 13B is a user interface view of mapping of customizable businessprofile 1304 of the commercial user 1300, according to one embodiment.In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 13B, the commercial user1300 may be associated with the customizable business profile 1304. Thecustomizable business profile 1304 may be profile of any business firm(e.g., restaurant, hotels, supermarket, etc.) that may containinformation such as address, occupant name, profession of thecustomizable business. The customizable business profile 1304 may alsoenable the verified registered user 1310 to place online order for theproducts.

For example, the commercial user 1300 may be permitted to purchase acustomizable business profile 1304 associated with a commercialgeographic location. Also, the verified registered user 1310 may beenabled to communicate a message to the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) based on a selectable distancerange away from the specific geographic location. In addition, a paymentof the commercial user 1300 and/or the verified registered user 1310 maybe processed.

A target advertisement 1306 may display the information associated withthe offers and/or events of the customizable business. The displayadvertisement 1308 may display ads of the products of the customizablebusiness that may be displayed to urge the verified registered user 1310to buy the products of the customizable business. The verifiedregistered user 1310 may be user associated with the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) that maycommunicate a message to the commercial user 1300 and/or may beinterested in buying the products of the customizable business.

FIG. 14 is a user interface view of a group view 1402 associated withparticular geographical location, according to one embodiment.Particularly FIG. 14 illustrates, a map 1400, a groups view 1402,according to one embodiment. In the example embodiment illustrated inFIG. 14, the map view 1400 may display map view of the geographicallocation of the specific group of the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1). The groups view 1402 maycontain the information (e.g., address, occupant, etc.) associated withthe particular group of the specific geographical location (e.g., thegeographical location displayed in the map 1400) of the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1). Themembers 1404 may contain the information about the members associatedwith the group (e.g., the group associated with geographical locationdisplayed in the map) of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theprivacy server 100 of FIG. 1).

FIG. 15 is a user interface view of claim view 1550, according to oneembodiment. The claim view 1550 may enable the user to claim thegeographical location of the registered user. Also, the claim view 1550may facilitate the user of the global neighborhood environment (e.g.,the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) to claim the geographical location ofproperty under dispute.

In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 15, the operation 1502 mayallow the registered user of the global neighborhood environment (e.g.,the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) to claim the address of the geographiclocation claimed by the registered user. The operation 1504 illustratedin example embodiment of FIG. 15, may enable the user to delist theclaim of the geographical location. The operation 1506 may offerinformation associated with the document to be submitted by theregistered users of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theprivacy server 100 of FIG. 1) to claim the geographical location.

FIG. 16 is a user interface view of a building builder 1602, accordingto one embodiment. Particularly the FIG. 16 illustrates, a map 1600, abuilding builder 1602, according to one embodiment. The map 1600 maydisplay the geographical location in which the verified registered user(e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B) may createand/or modify empty claimable profiles (e.g., the claimable profile 1206of FIG. 12A-12B, the claimable profile 1302 of FIG. 13A, the claimableprofile 1704 of FIG. 17), building layouts, social network pages, andfloor levels structures housing residents and businesses in theneighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-N of FIG. 1). The buildingbuilder 1602 may enable the verified registered users (e.g., theverified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B) of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) to draw floor levelstructures, add neighbor's profiles and/or may also enable to select thefloor number, claimable type, etc. as illustrated in example embodimentof FIG. 16.

The verified registered user 1310 may be verified registered user of theglobal neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1)interested in creating and/or modifying claimable profiles (e.g., theclaimable profile 1206 of FIG. 12A-12B, the claimable profile 1302 ofFIG. 13A, the claimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17), building layouts,social network pages, and floor level structure housing residents andbusinesses in the neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-N of FIG. 1)in the building builder 1602.

For example, a social community module (e.g., a social community module106 of FIG. 1) of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacyserver 100 of FIG. 1) may generate a building creator (e.g., thebuilding builder 1602 of FIG. 16) in which the registered users maycreate and/or modify empty claimable profiles (e.g., the claimableprofile 1206 of FIG. 12A-12B, the claimable profile 1302 of FIG. 13A,the claimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17), building layouts, social networkpages, and floor levels structures housing residents and/or businessesin the neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-N of FIG. 1).

FIG. 17 is a systematic view of communication of claimable data,according to one embodiment. Particularly FIG. 17 illustrates a map1701, verified user profile 1702, choices 1708 and a new claimable page1706, according to one embodiment. The map 1701 may locate the detailsof the address of the registered user of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1). The verified userprofile 1702 may store the profiles of the verified user of the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1. Theclaimable profile 1704 may be the profiles of the registered user whomay claim them in the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacyserver 100 of FIG. 1).

In operation 1700 the search for the user profile (e.g., the userprofile 1200 of FIG. 12A) is been carried whom the registered user maybe searching. The new claimable page 1706 may solicit for the details ofa user whom the registered user is searching for in the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1). Thechoices 1708 may ask whether the requested search is any among thedisplayed names. The new claimable page 1706 may request for the detailsof location such as country, state and/or city. The operation 1700 maycommunicate with the choices 1708, and the new claimable page 1706.

For example, a no-match module (e.g., a no-match module 312 of FIG. 3)of the search module (e.g., the search module 108 of FIG. 1) to requestadditional information from the verified registered user about a person,place, and business having no listing in the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) when no matches arefound in a search query of the verified registered user (e.g., theverified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B), and to create a newclaimable page 1706 based on a response of the verified registered user1702 about the at least one person, place, and business not previouslyindexed in the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server100 of FIG. 1).

FIG. 18 is a systematic view of a network view 1850, according to oneembodiment. Particularly it may include a GUI display 1802, a GUIdisplay 1804, device 1806, a device 1808, a network 1810, a router 1812,a switch 1814, a firewall 1816, a load balancer 1818, an applicationserver#1 1824, a web application server 1826, an inter-processcommunication 1828, a computer server 1830, an image server 1832, amultiple servers 1834, a switch 1836, a database storage 1838, databasesoftware 1840 and a mail server 1842, according to one embodiment.

The GUI display 1802 and GUI display 1804 may display particular case ofuser interface for interacting with a device capable of representingdata (e.g., computer, cellular telephones, television sets etc.) whichemploys graphical images and widgets in addition to text to representthe information and actions available to the user (e.g., the user 116 ofFIG. 1). The device 1806 and device 1808 may be any device capable ofpresenting data (e.g., computer, cellular telephones, television setsetc.). The network 1810 may be any collection of networks (e.g.,internet, private networks, university social system, private network ofa company etc.) that may transfer any data to the user (e.g., the user116 of FIG. 1) and the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theprivacy server 100 of FIG. 1).

The router 1812 may forward packets between networks and/or informationpackets between the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacyserver 100 of FIG. 1) and registered user over the network (e.g.,internet). The switch 1814 may act as a gatekeeper to and from thenetwork (e.g., internet) and the device. The firewall 1816 may providesprotection (e.g., permit, deny or proxy data connections) fromunauthorized access to the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theprivacy server 100 of FIG. 1. The load balancer 1818 may balance thetraffic load across multiple mirrored servers in the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) and may be used toincrease the capacity of a server farm beyond that of a single serverand/or may allow the service to continue even in the face of server downtime due to server failure and/or server maintenance.

The application server 1822 may be server computer on a computer networkdedicated to running certain software applications of the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1). Theweb application server 1826 may be server holding all the web pagesassociated with the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacyserver 100 of FIG. 1). The inter-process communication 1828 may be setof rules for organizing and un-organizing factors and results regardingthe global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 ofFIG. 1). The computer server 1830 may serve as the application layer inthe multiple servers of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theprivacy server 100 of FIG. 1) and/or may include a central processingunit (CPU), a random access memory (RAM) temporary storage ofinformation, and/or a read only memory (ROM) for permanent storage ofinformation regarding the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theprivacy server 100 of FIG. 1).

The image server 1832 may store and provide digital images of theregistered user of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theprivacy server 100 of FIG. 1). The multiple servers 1834 may be multiplecomputers or devices on a network that may manages network resourcesconnecting the registered user and the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1). The database storage 1838 maystore software, descriptive data, digital images, system data and anyother data item that may be related to the user (e.g., the user 116 ofFIG. 1) of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server100 of FIG. 1). The database software 1840 may be provided a databasemanagement system that may support the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the neighborhood environment 100 of FIG. 1. The mail server 1842may be provided for sending, receiving and storing mails. The device1806 and 1808 may communicate with the GUI display(s) 1802 and 1804, therouter 1812 through the network 1810 and the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1).

FIG. 19 is a block diagram of a database, according to one embodiment.Particularly the block diagram of the database 1900 of FIG. 19illustrates a user data 1902, a location data, a zip codes data 1906, aprofiles data 1908, a photos data 1910, a testimonials data 1912, asearch parameters data 1914, a neighbor data 1916, a friends requestsdata 1918, a invites data 1920, a bookmarks data 1922, a messages data1924 and a bulletin board data 1926, according to one embodiment.

The database 1900 be may include descriptive data, preference data,relationship data, and/or other data items regarding the registered userof the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 ofFIG. 1.

The user data 1902 may be a descriptive data referring to informationthat may describe a user (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1). It may includeelements in a certain format for example Id may be formatted as integer,Firstname may be in text, Lastname may be in text, Email may be in text,Verify may be in integer, Password may be in text, Gender may be in m/f,Orientation may be in integer, Relationship may be in y/n, Dating may bein y/n, Friends may be in y/n, Activity may be in y/n, Status may be ininteger, Dob may be in date, Country may be in text, Zip code may be intext, Postalcode may be in text, State may be in text, Province may bein text, City may be in text, Occupation may be in text, Location may bein text, Hometown may be in text, Photo may be in integer, Membersincemay be in date, Lastlogin may be in date, Lastupdate may be in date,Recruiter may be in integer, Friendcount may be in integer, Testimonialsmay be in integer, Weeklypdates may be in y/n, Notifications may be iny/n, Photomode may be in integer and/or Type may be in integer.

The locations data 1904 may clarify the location details in formattedapproach. For example Zip code may be formatted as integer, City may bein text and/or State may be in text. The zip codes data 1906 may provideinformation of a user location in formatted manner. For example Zip codemay be formatted as text, Latitude may be in integer and/or Longitudemay be in integer. The profile data 1908 may clutch personneldescriptive data that may be formatted.

For examples ID may be formatted as integer, Interests may be in text,Favoritemusic may be in text, Favaoritebooks may be in text, Favoritetvmay be in text, Favoritemovies may be in text, Aboutme may be in text,Wanttommet may be in text, Ethnicity may be in integer, Hair may be ininteger, Eyes may be in integer, Height may be in integer, Body may bein integer, Education may be in integer, Income may be in integer,Religion may be in integer, Politics may be in integer Smoking may be ininteger, Drinking may be in integer and/or Kids may be in integer.

The photos data 1910 may represent a digital image and/or a photographof the user formatted in certain approach. For example Id may beformatted as integer, User may be in integer, Fileid may be in integerand/or Moderation may be in integer. The testimonials data 1912 mayallow users to write “testimonials” 1912, or comments, about each otherand in these testimonials, users may describe their relationship to anindividual and their comments about that individual. For example theuser might write a testimonial that states “Rohan has been a friend ofmine since graduation days. He is smart, intelligent, and a talentedperson.” The elements of testimonials data 1912 may be formatted as Idmay be in integer, User may be in integer, Sender may be integer,Approved may be in y/n, Date may be in date and/or Body may be formattedin text.

The search parameters data 1914 may be preference data referring to thedata that may describe preferences one user has with respect to another(For example, the user may indicate that he is looking for a female whois seeking a male for a serious relationship). The elements of thesearch parameters data 1914 may be formatted as User 1902 may be ininteger, Photosonly may be in y/n, Justphotos may be in y/n, Male may bein y/n, Female may be in y/n, Men may be in y/n, Women may be in y/n,Helptohelp may be in y/n, Friends may be in y/n, Dating may be in y/n,Serious may be in y/n, Activity may be in y/n, Minage may be in integer,Maxage may be in integer, Distance may be in integer, Single may be iny/n, Relationship may be in y/n, Married may be in y/n and/orOpenmarriage may be in y/n.

The neighbor's data 1916 may generally refer to relationships amongregistered users of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., theprivacy server 100 of FIG. 1) that have been verified and the user hasrequested another individual to join the system as neighbor 1916, andthe request may be accepted. The elements of the neighbors data 1916 maybe formatted as user1 may be in integer and/or user2 may be in integer.The friend requests data 1918 may tracks requests by users within theneighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-N of FIG. 1) to otherindividuals, which requests have not yet been accepted and may containelements originator and/or respondent formatted in integer. The invitesdata 1920 may describe the status of a request by the user to invite anindividual outside the neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-N ofFIG. 1) to join the neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-N ofFIG. 1) and clarify either the request has been accepted, ignored and/orpending.

The elements of the invites data 1920 may be formatted as Id may be ininteger, Key may be in integer, Sender may be in integer, Email may bein text, Date may be in date format, Clicked may be in y/n, Joined maybe in y/n and/or Joineduser may be in integer. The bookmarks data 1922may be provide the data for a process allowed wherein a registered userof the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 ofFIG. 1) may indicate an interest in the profile of another registereduser. The bookmark data 1922 elements may be formatted as Owner may bein integer, User may be in integer and/or Visible may be in y/n. Themessage data 1924 may allow the users to send one another privatemessages.

The message data 1924 may be formatted as Id may be in integer, User maybe in integer, Sender may be in integer, New may be in y/n, Folder maybe in text, Date may be in date format, Subject may be in text and/orBody may be in text format. The bulletin board data 1926 may supportsthe function of a bulletin board that users may use to conduct onlinediscussions, conversation and/or debate. The claimable data 1928 mayshare the user profiles (e.g., the user profile 1200 of FIG. 12A) in theneighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-N of FIG. 1) and its elementsmay be formatted as claimables inputed and/or others may be in textformat.

FIG. 20 is an exemplary graphical user interface view for datacollection, according to one embodiment. Particularly FIG. 20illustrates exemplary screens 2002, 2004 that may be provided to theuser (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) through an interface may be throughthe network (e.g., Internet), to obtain user descriptive data. Thescreen 2002 may collect data allowing the user (e.g., the user 116 ofFIG. 1) to login securely and be identified by the neighborhood (e.g.,the neighborhood 102A-N of FIG. 1). This screen 2002 may allow the userto identify the reason he/she is joining the neighborhood. For example,a user may be joining the neighborhood for “neighborhood watch”. Thescreen 2004 may show example of how further groups may be joined. Forexample, the user (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) may be willing to joina group “Raj for city council”. It may also enclose the data concerningDob, country, zip/postal code, hometown, occupation and/or interest.

FIG. 21 is an exemplary graphical user interface view of imagecollection, according to one embodiment. A screen 2100 may be interfaceprovided to the user (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) over the network(e.g., internet) may be to obtain digital images from system user. Theinterface 2102 may allow the user (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) tobrowse files on his/her computer, select them, and then upload them tothe neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-N of FIG. 1). The user(e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) may upload the digital images and/orphoto that may be visible to people in the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor120 of FIG. 1) network and not the general public. The user may be ableto upload a JPG, GIF, PNG and/or BMP file in the screen 2100.

FIG. 22 is an exemplary graphical user interface view of an invitation,according to one embodiment. An exemplary screen 2200 may be provided toa user through a user interface 2202 may be over the network (e.g.,internet) to allow users to invite neighbor or acquaintances to join theneighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-N of FIG. 1). The userinterface 2202 may allow the user (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) toenter one or a plurality of e-mail addresses for friends they may liketo invite to the neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-N of FIG. 1).The exemplary screen 2200 may include the “subject”, “From”, “To”,“Optional personnel message”, and/or “Message body” sections. In the“Subject” section a standard language text may be included for joiningthe neighborhood (e.g., Invitation to join Fatdoor from John Doe, aneighborhood.).

The “From” section may include the senders email id (e.g.,user@domain.com). The “To” section may be provided to add the email idof the person to whom the sender may want to join the neighborhood(e.g., the neighborhood 102A-N of FIG. 1). The message that may be sentto the friends and/or acquaintances may include standard languagedescribing the present neighborhood, the benefits of joining and thesteps required to join the neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-Nof FIG. 1). The user (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) may choose toinclude a personal message, along with the standard invitation in the“Optional personal message” section. In the “Message body” section theinvited friend or acquaintance may initiate the process to join thesystem by clicking directly on an HTML link included in the e-mailmessage (e.g., http://www.fatdoor.com/joinjsp? Invite=140807). In oneembodiment, the user (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) may import e-mailaddresses from a standard computerized address book. The system mayfurther notify the inviting user when her invitee accepts or declinesthe invitation to join the neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-Nof FIG. 1).

FIG. 23 is a flowchart of inviting the invitee(s) by the registereduser, notifying the registered user upon the acceptance of theinvitation by the invitee(s) and, processing and storing the input dataassociated with the user (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) in the database,according to one embodiment. In operation 2302, the verified registereduser (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, theverified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) willing to invite theindividual enters the email addresses of an individual “invitee”. Inoperation 2304, the email address and the related data of the inviteemay be stored in the database. In operation 2306, the invitation contentfor inviting the invitee may be generated from the data stored in thedatabase. In operation 2308, the registered user sends invitation to theinvitee(s).

In operation 2310, response from the user (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1)may be determined. The operation 2312, if the invitee doesn't respond toinvitation sent by the registered user then registered user may resendthe invitation for a predefined number of times. In operation 2314, ifthe registered user resends the invitation to the same invitee forpredefined number of times and if the invitee still doesn't respond tothe invitation the process may be terminated automatically.

In operation 2316, if the invitee accepts the invitation sent by theregistered user then system may notify the registered user that theinvitee has accepted the invitation. In operation 2318, the input fromthe present invitee(s) that may contain the descriptive data about thefriend (e.g., registered user) may be processed and stored in thedatabase.

For example, each registered user associated e-mail addresses ofindividuals who are not registered users may be stored and identified byeach registered user as neighbors. An invitation to become a new user(e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) may be communicated out to neighbor(e.g., the neighbors neighbor of FIG. 1) of the particular user. Anacceptance of the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) to whomthe invitation was sent may be processed.

The neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) may be added to adatabase and/or storing of the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG.1), a user ID and a set of user IDs of registered users who are directlyconnected to the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1), the set ofuser IDs stored of the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1)including at least the user ID of the verified registered user (e.g.,the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registereduser 1310 of FIG. 16). Furthermore, the verified registered user may benotified that the invitation to the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 120 ofFIG. 1) has been accepted when an acceptance is processed. Also, inputsfrom the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) having descriptivedata about the friend may be processed and the inputs in the databasemay be stored.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart of adding the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 120 ofFIG. 1) to the queue, according to one embodiment. In operation 2402,the system may start with the empty connection list and empty queue. Inoperation 2404, the user may be added to the queue. In operation 2406,it is determined whether the queue is empty. In operation 2408, if it isdetermined that the queue is not empty then the next person P may betaken from the queue. In operation 2410, it may be determined whetherthe person P from the queue is user B or not. In operation 2412, if theperson P is not user B then it may be determined whether the depth ofthe geographical location is less than maximum degrees of separation.

If it is determined that depth is more than maximum allowable degrees ofseparation then it may repeat the operation 2408. In operation 2414, ifmay be determined that the depth of the geographical location (e.g., thegeographical location 1204 of FIG. 12A) is less than maximum degrees ofseparation then the neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) listfor person P may be processed. In operation 2416, it may be determinedwhether all the neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) in theneighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-N of FIG. 1) have beenprocessed or not. If all the friends are processed it may be determinedthe queue is empty.

In operation 2418, if all the neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 120 ofFIG. 1) for person P are not processed then next neighbor N may be takenfrom the list. In operation 2420, it may be determined whether theneighbor (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) N has encountered before ornot. In operation 2422, if the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 120 ofFIG. 1) has not been encountered before then the neighbor may be addedto the queue. In operation 2424, if the neighbor N has been encounteredbefore it may be further determined whether the geographical location(e.g., the geographical location 1204 of FIG. 12A) from where theneighbor (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) has encountered previouslyis the same place or closer to that place.

If it is determined that the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1)has encountered at the same or closer place then the friend may be addedto the queue. If it may be determined that friend is not encountered atthe same place or closer to that place then it may be again checked thatall the friends have processed. In operation 2426, if it is determinedthat the person P is user B than the connection may be added to theconnection list and after adding the connection to connection list itfollows the operation 2412. In operation 2428, if it may be determinedthat queue is empty then the operation may return the connections list.

For example, a first user ID with the verified registered user (e.g.,the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registereduser 1310 of FIG. 16) and a second user ID may be applied to thedifferent registered user. The verified registered user (e.g., theverified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registereduser 1310 of FIG. 16) with the different registered user may beconnected with each other through at least one of a geo-positioning dataassociated with the first user ID and the second user ID. In addition, amaximum degree of separation (Nmax) of at least two that is allowed forconnecting any two registered users, (e.g., the two registered users whomay be directly connected may be deemed to be separated by one degree ofseparation and two registered users who may be connected through no lessthan one other registered user may be deemed to be separated by twodegrees of separation and two registered users who may be connectedthrough not less than N other registered users may be deemed to beseparated by N+1 degrees of separation).

Furthermore, the user ID of the different registered user may besearched (e.g., the method limits the searching of the differentregistered user in the sets of user IDs that may be stored as registeredusers who are less than Nmax degrees of separation away from theverified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16), such that theverified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) and thedifferent registered user who may be separated by more than Nmax degreesof separation are not found and connected.) in a set of user IDs thatmay be stored of registered users who are less than Nmax degrees ofseparation away from the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 16), and not in the sets of user IDs that may be stored forregistered users who are greater than or equal to Nmax degrees ofseparation away from the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 16), until the user ID of the different registered user may befound in one of the searched sets. Also, the verified registered user(e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 16) may be connected to the differentregistered user if the user ID of the different registered user may befound in one of the searched sets.

Moreover, the sets of user IDs that may be stored of registered usersmay be searched initially who are directly connected to the verifiedregistered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B,the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16). A profile of thedifferent registered user may be communicated to the verified registereduser (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, theverified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) to display through a markerassociating the verified registered user (e.g., the verified registereduser 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16)with the different registered user. A connection path between theverified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) and thedifferent registered user, the connection path indicating at least oneother registered user may be stored through whom the connection pathbetween the verified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) andthe different registered user is made.

In addition, the connection path between the verified registered user(e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 16) and the different registered user maybe communicated to the verified registered user to display. A hyperlinkin the connection path of each of the at least one registered users maybe embedded through whom the connection path between the verifiedregistered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B,the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) and the differentregistered user is made.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart of communicating brief profiles of the registeredusers, processing a hyperlink selection from the verified registereduser (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, theverified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) and calculating and ensuringthe Nmax degree of separation of the registered users away from verifiedregistered users (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B,the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16), according to oneembodiment. In operation 2502, the data of the registered users may becollected from the database. In operation 2504, the relational pathbetween the first user and the second user may be calculated (e.g., theNmax degree of separation between verified registered user (e.g., theverified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registereduser 1310 of FIG. 16) and the registered user).

For example, the brief profiles of registered users, including a briefprofile of the different registered user, to the verified registereduser (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, theverified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) for display, each of the briefprofiles including a hyperlink to a corresponding full profile may becommunicated.

Furthermore, the hyperlink selection from the verified registered user(e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 16) may be processed (e.g., upon processingthe hyperlink selection of the full profile of the different registereduser, the full profile of the different registered user may becommunicated to the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 16) for display). In addition, the brief profiles of thoseregistered users may be ensured who are more than Nmax degrees ofseparation away from the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 16) are not communicated to the verified registered user (e.g., theverified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registereduser 1310 of FIG. 16) for display.

FIG. 26 is an N degree separation view 2650, according to oneembodiment. ME may be a verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 16) of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacyserver 100 of FIG. 1) centered in the neighborhood network. A, B, C, D,E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, and/or U may be theother registered user of the neighborhood network. The member of theneighborhood network may be separated from the centered verifiedregistered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B,the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) ME of the neighborhoodnetwork by certain degree of separation. The registered user A, B and Cmay be directly connected and are deemed to be separated by one degreeof separation from verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 16) ME. The registered user D, E, F, G, and H may be connectedthrough no less than one other registered user may be deemed to beseparated by two degree of separation from verified registered user(e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 16) ME. The registered user I, J, K, and Lmay be connected through no less than N−1 other registered user may bedeemed to be separated by N degree of separation from verifiedregistered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B,the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) ME. The registered user M,N, O, P, Q, R S, T and U may be all registered user.

FIG. 27 is a user interface view 2700 showing a map, according to oneembodiment. Particularly FIG. 27 illustrates a satellite photo of aphysical world. The registered user of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) may use this forexploring the geographical location (e.g., the geographical location1204 of FIG. 12A) of the neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1).The registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG.13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) may navigate, zoom,explore and quickly find particular desired geographical locations ofthe desired neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1). This may helpthe registered user to read the map and/or plot the route of theneighbors (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) on the world map.

FIG. 28A is a process flow of searching map based community andneighborhood contribution, according to one embodiment. In operation2802, a verified registered user (e.g., a verified registered user 1310of FIG. 13A-13B, a verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) may beassociated with a user profile (e.g., a user profile 1200 of FIG. 12A).In operation 2804, the user profile (e.g., the user profile 1200 of FIG.12A) may be associated with a specific geographic location (e.g., ageographic location 1204 of FIG. 12A).

In operation 2806, a map (e.g., a map 1202 of FIG. 12A-12B, a map 1400of FIG. 14, a map 1600 of FIG. 16, a map 1701 of FIG. 17) may begenerated concurrently displaying the user profile (e.g., the userprofile 1200 of FIG. 12A) and the specific geographic location (e.g.,the geographic location 1204 of FIG. 12A). In operation, 2808, in themap, claimable profiles (e.g., a claimable profile 1206 of FIG. 12A-B, aclaimable profile 1302 of FIG. 13A, a claimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17)associated with different geographic locations may be simultaneouslygenerated surrounding the specific geographic location (e.g., thegeographic location 1204 of FIG. 12A) associated with the user profile(e.g., the user profile 1200 of FIG. 12A).

In operation 2810, a query of at least one of the user profile (e.g.,the user profile 1200 of FIG. 12A) and the specific geographic location(e.g., the geographic location 1204 of FIG. 12A) may be processed. Inoperation 2812, a particular claimable profile of the claimable profiles(e.g., the claimable profile 1206 of FIG. 12A-B, the claimable profile1302 of FIG. 13A, the claimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17) may beconverted to another user profile (e.g., the user profile 1200 of FIG.12A) when a different registered user claims a particular geographiclocation to the specific geographic location (e.g., the geographiclocation 1204 of FIG. 12A) associated with the particular claimableprofile (e.g., the claimable profile 1206 of FIG. 12A-B, the claimableprofile 1302 of FIG. 13A, the claimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17),wherein the user profile (e.g., the user profile 1200 of FIG. 12A) maybe tied to a specific property in a neighborhood (e.g., a neighborhood102A-102N of FIG. 1), and wherein the particular claimable profile(e.g., the claimable profile 1206 of FIG. 12A-12B, the claimable profile1302 of FIG. 13A, the claimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17) may beassociated with a neighboring property to the specific property in theneighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 120A-120N of FIG. 1).

In operation 2814, a certain claimable profile (e.g., the claimableprofile 1206 of FIG. 12A-12B, the claimable profile 1302 of FIG. 13A,the claimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17) of the claimable profiles (e.g.,the claimable profile 1206 of FIG. 12A-B, the claimable profile 1302 ofFIG. 13A, the claimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17) may be delisted when aprivate registered user claims a certain geographic location (e.g., thegeographic location 1204 of FIG. 12A) adjacent to at least one of thespecific geographic location and the particular geographic location(e.g., the geographic location 1204 of FIG. 12A).

In operation 2816, the certain claimable profile (e.g., the claimableprofile 1206 of FIG. 12A-B, the claimable profile 1302 of FIG. 13A, theclaimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17) in the map (e.g., the map 1202 ofFIG. 12A-B, the map 1400 of FIG. 14, the map 1600 of FIG. 16, the map1701 of FIG. 17) when the certain claimable profile may be delistedand/or be masked through the request of the private registered user.

FIG. 28B is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 28A showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment. In operation 2818, atag data associated with at least one of the specific geographiclocation, the particular geographic location (e.g., the geographiclocation 1204 of FIG. 12A), and the delisted geographic location may beprocessed. In operation 2820, a frequent one of the tag data may bedisplayed when at least one of the specific geographic location and theparticular geographic location (e.g., the geographic location 1204 ofFIG. 12A) may be made active, but not when the geographic location(e.g., the geographic location 1204 of FIG. 12A) may be delisted.

In operation 2822, a commercial user (e.g., a commercial user 1300 ofFIG. 13A-B) may be permitted to purchase a customizable business profile(e.g., a customizable business profile 1304 of FIG. 13B) associated witha commercial geographic location. In operation 2824, the verifiedregistered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B,the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) to communicate a messageto the neighborhood (e.g., the neighborhood 102A-102N of FIG. 1) may beenabled based on a selectable distance range away from the specificgeographic location.

In operation 2826, a payment of the commercial user (e.g., thecommercial user 1300 of FIG. 13A-B) and the verified registered user(e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 16) may be processed. In operation 2828,the verified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) may bepermitted to edit any information in the claimable profiles (e.g., theclaimable profile 1206 of FIG. 12A-B, the claimable profile 1302 of FIG.13A, the claimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17) including the particularclaimable profile and the certain claimable profile until the certainclaimable profile may be claimed by at least one of the differentregistered user and the private registered user.

In operation 2830, a claimant of any claimable profile (e.g., theclaimable profile 1206 of FIG. 12A-B, the claimable profile 1302 of FIG.13A, the claimable profile 1704 of FIG. 17) may be enabled to controlwhat information is displayed on their user profile (e.g., the userprofile 1200 of FIG. 12A). In operation 2832, the claimant to segregatecertain information on their user profile (e.g., the user profile 1200of FIG. 12A) may be allowed such that only other registered usersdirectly connected to the claimant are able to view data on their userprofile (e.g., the user profile 1200 of FIG. 12A).

FIG. 28C is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 28B showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment. In operation 2834, afirst user ID with the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 16) and a second user ID to the different registered user may beapplied. In operation 2836, the verified registered user (e.g., theverified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registereduser 1310 of FIG. 16) with the different registered user with each othermay be connected through at least one of associated with the first userID and the second user ID.

In operation 2838, a maximum degree of separation (Nmax) of at least twomay be set that is allowed for connecting any two registered users,wherein two registered users who are directly connected may be deemed tobe separated by one degree of separation and two registered users whoare connected through no less than one other registered user may bedeemed to be separated by two degrees of separation and two registeredusers who may be connected through no less than N other registered usersare deemed to be separated by N+1 degrees of separation. In operation2840, the user ID of the different registered user may be searched in aset of user IDs that are stored of registered users who are less thanNmax degrees of separation away from the verified registered user (e.g.,the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registereduser 1310 of FIG. 16), and not in the sets of user IDs that are storedfor registered users who may be greater than or equal to Nmax degrees ofseparation away from the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 16), until the user ID of the different registered user may befound in one of the searched sets.

In operation 2842, the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 16) may be connected to the different registered user if the userID of the different registered user may be found in one of the searchedsets, wherein the method limits the searching of the differentregistered user in the sets of user IDs that may be stored of registeredusers who may be less than Nmax degrees of separation away from theverified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16), such that theverified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) and thedifferent registered user who may be separated by more than Nmax degreesof separation are not found and connected. In operation 2844, initiallyin the sets of user IDs that are stored of registered users who may bedirectly connected to the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 16) may be initially searched.

FIG. 28D is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 28C showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment. In operation 2846, aprofile of the different registered user to the verified registered user(e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 16) to display may be communicated througha marker associating the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 16) with the different registered user.

In operation 2848, a connection path between the verified registereduser (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, theverified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) and the different registereduser, the connection path indicating at least one other registered usermay be stored through whom the connection path between the verifiedregistered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B,the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) and the differentregistered user may be made.

In operation 2850, the connection path between the verified registereduser (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, theverified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) and the different registereduser to the verified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) may becommunicated to display.

In operation 2852, a hyperlink in the connection path of each of the atleast one registered users may be embedded through whom the connectionpath between the verified registered user (e.g., the verified registereduser 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16)and the different registered user may be made. In operation 2854, eachregistered user associated e-mail addresses of individuals who are notregistered users may be stored and identified by each registered user asneighbors (e.g., a neighbor 120 of FIG. 1).

In operation 2856, an invitation may be communicated to become a newuser (e.g., a user 116 of FIG. 1) to neighbors (e.g., the neighbor 120of FIG. 1) of the particular user. In operation 2858, an acceptance ofthe neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) to whom the invitationwas sent may be processed. In operation 2860, the neighbor (e.g., theneighbor 120 of FIG. 1) to a database and storing of the neighbor (e.g.,the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1), a user ID and the set of user IDs ofregistered users may be added who are directly connected to the neighbor(e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1), the set of user IDs stored of theneighbor (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) including at least the userID of the verified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16).

FIG. 28E is a continuation of process flow of FIG. 28D showingadditional processes, according to one embodiment. In operation 2862,the verified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) that theinvitation to the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 120 of FIG. 1) has beenaccepted may be notified when the acceptance is processed.

In operation 2864, inputs from the neighbor (e.g., the neighbor 120 ofFIG. 1) having descriptive data about the friend and storing the inputsin the database may be processed. In operation 2866, brief profiles ofregistered users, including a brief profile of the different registereduser may be communicated, to the verified registered user (e.g., theverified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registereduser 1310 of FIG. 16) for display, each of the brief profiles includingthe hyperlink to a corresponding full profile.

In operation 2868, the hyperlink selection from the verified registereduser (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, theverified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) may be processed, wherein,upon processing the hyperlink selection of the full profile of thedifferent registered user, the full profile of the different registereduser is communicated to the verified registered user (e.g., the verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 16) for display.

In operation 2870, brief profiles of those registered users who may bemore than Nmax degrees of separation away from the verified registereduser (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, theverified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) may not communicated to theverified registered user (e.g., the verified registered user 1310 ofFIG. 13A-B, the verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 16) may be ensuredfor display.

People in suburbia and urban cities now may not even know who theirneighbors are. Communities have become more insular. There may be a fewactive people in each neighborhood who know about their neighborhood andare willing to share what they know with others. They should be able toshare this information with others through the Internet. Many peoplewant to know who their neighbors are and express themselves and theirfamilies through the internet. People want to also know aboutrecommendations and what kind of civic and cultural things are in theneighborhood. What is contemplated includes: A social network for peoplewho want to get to know their neighbors and/or neighborhoods.Particularly, one in which a set of maps of neighborhoods (e.g., such asthose on Zillow.com or provided through Google® or Microsoft®) are usedas a basis on which a user can identify themselves with a particularaddress. This address may be verified through one or more of the moduleson FIG. 1. Particularly, this address may be the current address of theuser is living, a previous address where the user used to live, etc.

The address may be verified through a credit check of the user, or acopy of the user's drivers license. Once the user is approved in aparticular home/location, the user can leave their comments about theirhome. They can mark their home information proprietary, so that no oneelse can contribute to their info without their permission. They canhave separate private and public sections, in which the private sectionis shared with only verified addresses of neighbors, and the publicsection is shared with anybody viewing their profile. The user can thencreate separate social networking pages for homes, churches, locations,etc. surrounding his verified address. As such, the user can expresshim/herself through their profile, and contribute information about whatthey're neighborhood is like and who lives there. Only verifiedindividuals or entities might be able to view information in thatneighborhood.

The more information the user contributes, the higher his or her statuswill be in the neighborhood through a marker (e.g., a number of stars),or through additional services offered to the neighbor, such as theability to search a profiles of neighbors in a larger distance rangefrom a verified address of the user. For example, initially, the usermay only be able to search profiles within 1 mile on their principal,current home after being verified as living in there. When they create aprofiles for themselves and/or contribute profiles of other people, theymay widen their net of private profiles they may be allowed to search(e.g., because they become a trusted party in the neighborhood byoffering civic information). Neighbors can leave feedback for eachother, and arrange private block parties, etc. through their privateprofile. All these features may possible through one or more of theembodiments and/or modules illustrated in FIGS. 1-28. Through theirpublic profile, neighbors can know if there is a doctor living down thestreet, or an attorney around the corner. The FIGS. 1-28 illustratevarious embodiments that may be realized. While a description is givenhere, a self-evident description can be derived for the software andvarious methods, software, and hardware directly from the attachedFigures.

A neighborhood expression and user contribution system is disclosed. Inone aspect, the technology allows users to see the value of millions ofhomes across the United States and/or the world, not just those that theuser themselves own or live in, because they can share information abouttheir neighbors. People living in apartments or condos can use theapartment/condo modeler wizard (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 1) tocreate models (e.g. 2 or 3d) of their building and share informationabout their apartment/home and of their neighbors with others. Thetechnology has an integrated targeted advertising system for enablingadvertisers to make money through the social community module 100 bydelivering targeted and non-targeted advertisements.

Aside from giving user generated content of information of homes, thesystem may also provide value estimates of homes it may also offersseveral unique features including value changes of each home in a giventime frame (e.g. 1, 5, or 10 years) and aerial views of homes as well asthe price of the surrounding homes in the area. It may also providesbasic data of a given home such as square footage and the number ofbedrooms and bathrooms. Users may can also obtain current estimates ofhomes if there was a significant change made such as recently modeledkitchen.

In the example systems and methods illustrated in FIGS. 1-28, neighborsmay get to know each other and their surrounding businesses more easilythrough the Internet. The user interface view of the social communitymodule may include a searchable map interface and/or a social networkingpage on the right when one clicks a particular home/location. The mapinterface may/may not include information about prices of a home, orinformation about the number of bedrooms of a home, etc. In essence,certain critical input information may be divided as follows:

Residential location: (1) name of the persons/family living in thatresidence (2) Their profession if any 3) Their educational background ifany (4) Their recreational interests (5) About their family descriptionbox (6) Anything else people want to post about that person includingtheir interests, hobbies, etc. (7) An ability for users to leaveendorsements.

Business location or civic location (e.g., park, govt. building, church,etc.): (1) name of the business/location (2) email of the manager of thebusiness/location (3) phone number of the business/location if known (4)anything else people want to say about the business (good or bad), forexample, contributable through a claimable.

These two will be the primary types. Various features differentiateexample embodiments of the social community module from other socialnetworks. These differentiators include (1) interface driven by address(2) maps that can be viewed, zoomed in on, tied to a parcel #, etc. (3)Anyone can populate anyone's social network page. (4) Anybody can postin one of the boxes. They can post anonymously or publicly (5) Ifsomeone wants to override information that already has been established,they will need to have an identity (e.g., user name), to overridepublished posting information.

However, according to one embodiment, if an owner of an entity locationwishes to mark their location private, and uneditable by the publicwithout their permission, they will need to pay (e.g., a monthly fixedfee) through the social community module. Alternatively, the owner ofthe entity location may not need to pay to mark the location as privateand uneditable by the public without the owner's permission. Exampleembodiments of the social community module may feature info aboutbusinesses. They may also feature info about people that live in thehomes, and may/may not display information on prices, number ofbedrooms, etc.

The social community module (e.g., as described in FIG. 1) may be asearch engine (e.g., Google®, Yahoo®, etc.) that uses maps (e.g.,satellite map views) instead of text displays to show information, userprofiles, reviews, promotions, ads, directions, events, etc. relevant touser searches.

The example systems and methods illustrated in FIGS. 1-28 may facilitatea social network membership that spreads virally by users inviting theirfriends. For example, every person that registers has their own profile,but registration may not be required to contribute content. However,registration may be required to “own” content on your own home, and haveoverride permission to delete things that you don't like about yourselflisted about you by others. In one embodiment, the social communitymodule may need to confirm the user's identity and address (e.g., usingdigital signature tools, drivers license verification, etc.), and/or theuser may need to pay a monthly fixed fee (e.g., through a credit card)to control their identity.

For example, they can get a rebate, and not have to pay the monthly feefor a particular month, if they invite at least 15 people that month ANDcontribute information about at least 10 of their neighbors, friends,civic, or business locations in their neighborhood. People can post picsof their family, their business, their home, etc. on their profile oncethey ‘own’ their home and register. In another embodiment, endorsementsfor neighbors by others will be published automatically. People cansearch for other people by descriptors (e.g., name, profession, distanceaway from me, etc.)

Profiles of users may be created and/or generated on the fly, e.g., whenone clicks on a home.

People may be able to visually see directions to their neighborhoodbusinesses, rather than reading directions through text in a firstphase. After time, directions (e.g., routes) can be offered as well.Users can leave their opinions on businesses, but the social communitymodule also enables users to leave opinions on neighbors, occupants orany entity having a profile on the map display. The social communitymodule may not attempt to restrict freedom of speech by the users, butmay voluntarily delete slanderous, libelous information on the requestof an owner manually at any time.

In one embodiment, the methods and systems illustrated in FIGS. 1-28enable people to search for things they want e.g. nearby pizzas etc.(e.g., by distance away). Advertisers can ‘own’ their listing by placinga display ad on nextdoor.com. Instead of click-through revenues whensomeone leaves the site, revenues will be realized when the link isclicked and someone views a preview html on the right of the visual map.Targeted advertisements may also be placed when someone searches aparticular street, name, city, etc.

In another example embodiment, the social community module may enableusers of the social network to populate profiles for apartments,buildings, condos, etc. People can create floors, layout, etc. of theirbuilding, and add social network pages on the fly when they click on alocation that has multiple residents, tenants, or lessees.

A user interface associated with the social community module 100 may beclean, simple, and uncluttered (e.g., Simple message of “get to knowyour neighbors”). For example, the map interface shows neighbors.Methods and systems associated with the features described may focus onuser experience, e.g., ensuring a compelling message to invite friendsand/or others to join. A seed phase for implementation of the methodsand systems illustrated in FIGS. 1-28 may be identified for building amembership associated with the social community module.

For example, a user having extensive networks in a certain area (e.g., acity) may seed those communities as well. The social network mayencourage user expression, user content creation, ease of use on site toget maximum users/distribution as quickly as possible. In anotherembodiment, the social community module may ensure that infrastructureassociated with operation of the social community module (e.g., servers)is able to handle load (e.g., data traffic) and keep up with expectedgrowth.

For example, the user interface view illustrated in the various figuresshows an example embodiment of the social community module of FIG. 1.The user interface view may include a publicly editable profile wallsection allowing public postings that owners of the profile can edit.For example, any user may be able to post on an empty profile wall, buta user must claim the location to own the profile (e.g., may minimizebarriers to users posting comments on profile walls).

Names featured on the profile wall may be links to the user profiles onthe map (e.g., giving an immediate sense for the location of admirers(or detractors) relative to user location). In one embodiment, an action(e.g., mouse-over) on a comment would highlight the comment user's houseon the map and names linking to user profiles. The user interface viewmay also utilize the mapping interface to link comments to locations.

For example, the various embodiments illustrate a comment announcing agarage sale, that is tied to a mappable location on the mappinginterface. (e.g., allows people to browse references directly frompeople's profiles.). In the various figures, an example display of themapping interface is illustrated. In this example display, houses areshown in green, a church is shown in white, the red house shows theselected location and/or the profile owner's house, question marksindicate locations without profile owners, blue buildings are commerciallocations, and the pink building represents an apartment complex.

Houses with stars indicate people associated with (e.g., “friends”) ofthe current user. In one embodiment, a user action (e.g., mouse-over) ona commercial property displayed in the mapping interface may pull up astar (e.g., “***”) rating based on user reviews, and/or a link to theprofile for the property. A mouse-over action on the apartment complexmay pull up a building schematic for the complex with floor plans, onwhich the user can see friends/profiles for various floors or rooms.Question marks indicated in the display may prompt users to own thatprofile or post comments on the wall for that space. A user action onany house displayed in the mapping interface may pull up a profile link,summary info such as status, profession, interests, etc. associated withthe profile owner, a link to add the person as a friend, and/or a linkto send a message to the user (e.g., the profile owner).

In another embodiment, a default profile view shown is that of thecurrent user (e.g., logged in), and if the user clicks on any otherprofile, it may show their profile in that space instead (with few textchanges to indicate different person). The events in your area view ofthe profile display in may have a default radius for notification ofevents (e.g., by street, by block, by neighborhood, county, etc.) Eventsare associated with user profiles and may link to locations displayed onthe mapping interfaces. The hot picks section may be an ad/promotionalzone, with default settings for radius of alerts also configurable.

For example, the “Find a Friend” section may permit users to search byname, address, interests, status, profession, favorite movies/music/foodetc. Users are also able to search within a given radius of theirlocation. In one embodiment, the user interface view may include a linkfor the user to invite other people to join the network (e.g., mayencourage users who see a question-mark on a house or a location on themapping interface that corresponds to a real location associated withsomeone they know to contact that person and encourage them to join andown that profile through the social community module).

Some of the reasons we believe these embodiments are unique include:

Search engine that provides a visual map (e.g., rather than text)display of information relevant to user queries.

Users can search on the map for other people having certainprofessional, educational, personal, extracurricular, cultural,political and/or family etc. profiles or interests, within any locationrange.

Users can search for information on the map, that is accessible directlythrough profile displays. For example, the user may search forinformation about a certain subject and be directed to a profile ofanother user having information about the subject. Alternatively, theuser may view the search subject itself as a visible item (e.g., ifapplicable to the search query) having a profile on the map display,along with additional information associated with the item (e.g.,contributed by other users).

Allows users to search, browse and view information posted by otherusers about an entity location such as a home, a business property, acondo, an apartment complex, etc. directly on a map display

Allows users to browse, form and join groups and communities based onlocation, preferences, interests, friend requests, etc.

Users can send messages to other people through their profiles withinthe map display

Users can find friends, business associates, vendors, romantic partners,etc. on the map within any location range (e.g., in their neighborhood,street, subdivision, etc.) by browsing the map display or searching forpeople with certain profile characteristics and/or similar interests.

Users can view, browse and post comments/information/reviews aboutentity locations and/or people associated with those locations (e.g.,occupants of a house, families, apartment residents, businesses,non-governmental entities, etc.), even for locations that do not have aprofile owner. For example, all entity locations visible on the mapdisplay may link to a profile on which any user can post comments. Toown the profile and edit the information posted about an entity locationor the occupant(s), the occupant(s) would have to join the networkassociated with the social community module and become the owner of theprofile. The profile owner would then become visible in the map display(e.g., entity locations without profile owners may only be visible asquestions marks on the map, having blank profiles but public commentsections).

Users can share their comments and opinions about locations, preferencesand/or interests on their profiles that are visible and searchable onthe map display

Automatically notifies users of events and promotions in an area (e.g.,scope of area can be selected by the user), and highlights venues anduser profiles on the map.

Users can post reviews about entity locations (e.g., businesses) suchthat ratings for entity locations are visible on the map. Other userscan trace the location of the users that posted the comments on the map.

Users who post comments on other profiles can be traced directly on themap through their comments. Alternatively, users can choose to submitanonymous postings or comments on other user/entity profiles, and/or maychoose not to be traceable on the map through their comments.

For entity locations having more than one residency unit (e.g.,apartment complexes), people can create and post on profiles for anyroom/floor of the location (e.g., by entering information on a schematicview of the location that is visible on the map).

Users can visually determine routes/directions/orientation to locationsthat they can browse within the map display. Additionally, users cangenerate written driving, walking or public transit directions betweenpoints of interest (e.g., from the user's house to a friend's house)within the map display.

Users can communicate (e.g., through live chat) directly with otherusers in the area based on an association determined through theirprofiles

Business entity locations can generate targeted ads and promotionswithin locations on the map display (e.g., virtual billboards).

The social community module can realize revenue based on adclickthroughs by users, without the users being directed away from theinterface. For example, when a user clicks on any targeted ad/promotiondisplayed on the map, the profile of the entity associated with thead/promotion may be generated alongside the map display.

Neighborhood or neighborhood (see spelling differences) is ageographically localized community located within a larger city orsuburb. The residents of a given neighborhood are called neighbors (orneighbors), although this term may also be used across much largerdistances in rural areas.

Traditionally, a neighborhood is small enough that the neighbors are allable to know each other. However in practice, neighbors may not know oneanother very well at all. Villages aren't divided into neighborhoods,because they are already small enough that the villagers can all knoweach other.

The system however may work in any country and any geography of theworld. In Canada and the United States, neighborhoods are often givenofficial or semi-official status through neighborhood associations,neighborhood watches, or block watches. These may regulate such mattersas lawn care and fence height, and they may provide such services asblock parties, neighborhood parks, and community security. In some otherplaces the equivalent organization is the parish, though a parish mayhave several neighborhoods within it depending on the area.

In localities where neighborhoods do not have an official status,questions can arise as to where one neighborhood begins and anotherends, such as in the city of Philadelphia, Pa. Many cities may usedistricts and wards as official divisions of the city, rather thantraditional neighborhood boundaries.

In the mainland of the People's Republic of China, the term is generallyused for the urban administrative unit usually found immediately belowthe district level, although an intermediate, sub-district level existsin some cities. They are also called streets (administrative terminologymay vary from city to city). Neighborhoods encompass 2,000 to 10,000families. Within neighborhoods, families are grouped into smallerresidential units or quarters of 100 to 600 families and supervised by aresidents' committee; these are subdivided into residents' small groupsof fifteen to forty families. In most urban areas of China,neighborhood, community, residential community, residential unit,residential quarter have the same meaning:

or

or

or

, and is the direct sublevel of a subdistrict (

), which is the direct sublevel of a district (

), which is the direct sublevel of a city (

). (See Political divisions of China.

The system and methods may be distributed through neighborhoodassociations. A neighborhood or neighborhood (see spelling differences)is a geographically localized community located within a larger city orsuburb. The residents of a given neighborhood are called neighbors (orneighbors), although this term may also be used across much largerdistances in rural areas.

Traditionally, a neighborhood is small enough that the neighbors are allable to know each other. However in practice, neighbors may not know oneanother very well at all. Villages aren't divided into neighborhoods,because they are already small enough that the villagers can all knoweach other. Each of the technologies and concepts disclosed herein maybe embodied in software and/or hardware through one or more of themodules/embodiments discussed in FIGS. 1-28.

A block party is a large public celebration in which many members of asingle neighborhood congregate to observe a positive event of someimportance. Many times, there will be celebration in the form of playingmusic and dance. Block parties gained popularity in the United Statesduring the 1970s. Block Parties were often held outdoors and power forthe DJ's sound system was taken illegally from street lights. This wasfamously referenced in the song “South Bronx” by KRS-One with the line:

“Power from a street light made the place dark. But yo, they didn'tcare, they turned it out.” It is also interesting to note that manyinner city block parties were actually held illegally, as they might bedescribed as loitering. However, police turned a blind eye to them,reasoning that if everyone from the neighborhood was gathered in oneplace there was less chance of crime being committed elsewhere.

In the suburbs, block parties are commonly held on holidays such asFourth of July or Labor Day. Sometimes the occasion may be a theme sucha “Welcome to the Neighborhood” for a new family or a recent popularmovie. Often block parties involve barbecuing, lawn games such as SimonSays and group dancing such as the Electric Slide, the Macarena or linedancing.

In other usage, a block party has come to mean any informal publiccelebration. For example, a block party can be conducted via televisioneven though there is no real block in the observance. The same is truefor the Internet. The block party is closely related to the beach party.The British equivalent is the street party.

The systems and methods illustrated in FIGS. 1-28 may have software toemulate a block party or a neighborhood watch. A neighborhood watch(also called a crime watch or neighborhood crime watch) is a citizens'organization devoted to crime and vandalism prevention within aneighborhood. It is not a vigilante organization, since members areexpected not to directly intervene in possible criminal activity.Instead, neighborhood watch members are to stay alert to unusualactivity and contact the authorities. It builds on the concept of a townwatch from Colonial America.

The current American system of neighborhood watches began developing inthe late 1960s as a response to the rape and murder of Kitty Genovese inQueens, N.Y. People became outraged that three dozen witnesses didnothing to save Genovese or to apprehend her killer Some locals formedgroups to watch over their neighborhoods and to look out for anysuspicious activity in their areas. Shortly thereafter, the NationalSheriffs' Association began a concerted effort in 1972 to revitalize the“watch group” effort nationwide.

A neighborhood watch (also called a crime watch or neighborhood crimewatch) is a citizens' organization devoted to crime and vandalismprevention within a neighborhood. It is not a vigilante organization,since members are expected not to directly intervene in possiblecriminal activity. Instead, neighborhood watch members are to stay alertto unusual activity and contact the authorities. It builds on theconcept of a town watch from Colonial America.

The current American system of neighborhood watches began developing inthe late 1960s as a response to the rape and murder of Kitty Genovese inQueens, N.Y. People became outraged that three dozen witnesses didnothing to save Genovese or to apprehend her killer Some locals formedgroups to watch over their neighborhoods and to look out for anysuspicious activity in their areas. Shortly thereafter, the NationalSheriffs' Association began a concerted effort in 1972 to revitalize the“watch group” effort nationwide.

The various methods, systems, and apparatuses disclosed herein andillustrated and described using the attached FIGS. 1-28 can be appliedto creating online community organizations of neighborhoods of any form.During human growth and maturation, people encounter sets of otherindividuals and experiences. Infants encounter first, their immediatefamily, then extended family, and then local community (such as schooland work). They thus develop individual and group identity throughassociations that connect them to life-long community experiences.

As people grow, they learn about and form perceptions of socialstructures. During this progression, they form personal and culturalvalues, a world view and attitudes toward the larger society. Gaining anunderstanding of group dynamics and how to “fit in” is part ofsocialization. Individuals develop interpersonal relationships and beginto make choices about whom to associate with and under whatcircumstances.

During adolescence and adulthood, the individual tends to develop a moresophisticated identity, often taking on a role as a leader or followerin groups. If associated individuals develop the intent to give ofthemselves, and commit to the collective well-being of the group, theybegin to acquire a sense of community.

Socialization: The process of learning to adopt the behavior patterns ofthe community is called socialization. The most fertile time ofsocialization is usually the early stages of life, during whichindividuals develop the skills and knowledge and learn the rolesnecessary to function within their culture and social environment. Forsome psychologists, especially those in the psychodynamic tradition, themost important period of socialization is between the ages of 1 and 10.But socialization also includes adults moving into a significantlydifferent environment, where they must learn a new set of behaviors.

Socialization is influenced primarily by the family, through whichchildren first learn community norms. Other important influences includeschool, peer groups, mass media, the workplace and government. Thedegree to which the norms of a particular society or community areadopted determines one's willingness to engage with others. The norms oftolerance, reciprocity and trust are important “habits of the heart,” asde Tocqueville put it, in an individual's involvement in community.

Continuity of the connections between leaders, between leaders andfollowers, and among followers is vital to the strength of a community.Members individually hold the collective personality of the whole. Withsustained connections and continued conversations, participants incommunities develop emotional bonds, intellectual pathways, enhancedlinguistic abilities, and even a higher capacity for critical thinkingand problem-solving. It could be argued that successive and sustainedcontact with other people might help to remove some of the tension ofisolation, due to alienation, thus opening creative avenues that wouldhave otherwise remained impassable.

Conversely, sustained involvement in tight communities may tend toincrease tension in some people. However, in many cases, it is easyenough to distance oneself from the “hive” temporarily to ease thisstress. Psychological maturity and effective communication skills arethought to be a function of this ability. In nearly every context,individual and collective behaviors are required to find a balancebetween inclusion and exclusion; for the individual, a matter of choice;for the group, a matter of charter. The sum of the creative energy(often referred to as “synergy”) and the strength of the mechanisms thatmaintain this balance is manifest as an observable and resilient senseof community.

McMillan and Chavis (1986) identify four elements of “sense ofcommunity”: 1) membership, 2) influence, 3) integration and fulfillmentof needs, and 4) shared emotional connection. They give the followingexample of the interplay between these factors: Someone puts anannouncement on the dormitory bulletin board about the formation of anintramural dormitory basketball team. People attend the organizationalmeeting as strangers out of their individual needs (integration andfulfillment of needs). The team is bound by place of residence(membership boundaries are set) and spends time together in practice(the contact hypothesis). They play a game and win (successful sharedvalent event). While playing, members exert energy on behalf of the team(personal investment in the group). As the team continues to win, teammembers become recognized and congratulated (gaining honor and statusfor being members). Someone suggests that they all buy matching shirtsand shoes (common symbols) and they do so (influence).

A Sense of Community Index (SCI) has been developed by Chavis and hiscolleagues (1986). Although originally designed to assess sense ofcommunity in neighborhoods, the index has been adapted for use inschools, the workplace and a variety of types of communities.

Communitarianism as a group of related but distinct philosophies (orideologies) began in the late 20th century, opposing classicalliberalism, capitalism and socialism while advocating phenomena such ascivil society. Not necessarily hostile to social liberalism,communitarianism rather has a different emphasis, shifting the focus ofinterest toward communities and societies and away from the individual.The question of priority, whether for the individual or community, mustbe determined in dealing with pressing ethical questions about a varietyof social issues, such as health care, abortion, multiculturalism, andhate speech.

Effective communication practices in group and organizational settingsare important to the formation and maintenance of communities. How ideasand values are communicated within communities are important to theinduction of new members, the formulation of agendas, the selection ofleaders and many other aspects. Organizational communication is thestudy of how people communicate within an organizational context and theinfluences and interactions within organizational structures. Groupmembers depend on the flow of communication to establish their ownidentity within these structures and learn to function in the groupsetting. Although organizational communication, as a field of study, isusually geared toward companies and business groups, these may also beseen as communities. The principles can also be applied to other typesof communities.

If the sense of community exists, both freedom and security exist aswell. The community then takes on a life of its own, as people becomefree enough to share and secure enough to get along. The sense ofconnectedness and formation of social networks comprise what has becomeknown as social capital.

Azadi Tower is a town square in modern Iran. Social capital is definedby Robert D. Putnam as “the collective value of all social networks (whopeople know) and the inclinations that arise from these networks to dothings for each other (norms of reciprocity).” Social capital in actioncan be seen in groups of varying formality, including neighbors keepingan eye on each others' homes. However, as Putnam notes in Bowling AloneThe Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000), social capitalhas been falling in the United States. Putnam found that over the past25 years, attendance at club meetings has fallen 58 percent, familydinners are down 33 percent, and having friends visit has fallen 45percent.

Western cultures are thus said to be losing the spirit of community thatonce were found in institutions including churches and communitycenters. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg states in The Great Good Place thatpeople need three places: 1) The home, 2) the workplace, and, 3) thecommunity hangout or gathering place.

With this philosophy in mind, many grassroots efforts such as TheProject for Public Spaces are being started to create this “Third Place”in communities. They are taking form in independent bookstores,coffeehouses, local pubs and through many innovative means to create thesocial capital needed to foster the sense and spirit of community.

Community development is often formally conducted by universities orgovernment agencies to improve the social well-being of local, regionaland, sometimes, national communities. Less formal efforts, calledcommunity building or community organizing, seek to empower individualsand groups of people by providing them with the skills they need toeffect change in their own communities. These skills often assist inbuilding political power through the formation of large social groupsworking for a common agenda. Community development practitioners mustunderstand both how to work with individuals and how to affectcommunities' positions within the context of larger social institutions.

Formal programs conducted by universities are often used to build aknowledge base to drive curricula in sociology and community studies.The General Social Survey from the National Opinion Research Center atthe University of Chicago and the Saguaro Seminar at the John F. KennedySchool of Government at Harvard University are examples of nationalcommunity development in the United States. In The United Kingdom,Oxford University has led in providing extensive research in the fieldthrough its Community Development Journal, used worldwide bysociologists and community development practitioners.

At the intersection between community development and community buildingare a number of programs and organizations with community developmenttools. One example of this is the program of the Asset Based CommunityDevelopment Institute of Northwestern University. The institute makesavailable downloadable tools to assess community assets and makeconnections between non-profit groups and other organizations that canhelp in community building. The Institute focuses on helping communitiesdevelop by “mobilizing neighborhood assets”—building from the inside outrather than the outside in.

Community building and organizing: M. Scott Peck is of the view that thealmost accidental sense of community which exists at times of crisis,for example in New York City after the attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, can beconsciously built. Peck believes that the process of “consciouscommunity building” is a process of building a shared story, andconsensual decision making, built upon respect for all individuals andinclusivity of difference. He is of the belief that this process goesthrough four stages:

Pseudo-community: Where participants are “nice with each other”,playing-safe, and presenting what they feel is the most favorable sidesof their personalities. Chaos: When people move beyond the inauthenticity of pseudo-community and feel safe enough to present their“shadow” selves. This stage places great demands upon the facilitatorfor greater leadership and organization, but Peck believes that“organizations are not communities”, and this pressure should beresisted.

Emptying: This stage moves beyond the attempts to fix, heal and convertof the chaos stage, when all people become capable of acknowledgingtheir own woundedness and brokenness, common to us all as human beings.Out of this emptying comes

Authentic community: the process of deep respect and true listening forthe needs of the other people in this community. This stage Peckbelieves can only be described as “glory” and reflects a deep yearningin every human soul for compassionate understanding from one's fellows.

More recently Scott Peck has remarked that building a sense of communityis easy. It is maintaining this sense of community that is difficult inthe modern world. The Ithaca Hour is an example of community-basedcurrency. Community building can use a wide variety of practices,ranging from simple events such as potlucks and small book clubs tolarger-scale efforts such as mass festivals and construction projectsthat involve local participants rather than outside contractors. Somecommunities have developed their own “Local Exchange Trading Systems”(LETS) and local currencies, such as the Ithaca Hours system, toencourage economic growth and an enhanced sense of community.

Community building that is geared toward activism is usually termed“community organizing.” In these cases, organized community groups seekaccountability from elected officials and increased directrepresentation within decision-making bodies. Where good-faithnegotiations fail, these constituency-led organizations seek to pressurethe decision-makers through a variety of means, including picketing,boycotting, sit-ins, petitioning, and electoral politics. The ARISEDetroit! coalition and the Toronto Public Space Committee are examplesof activist networks committed to shielding local communities fromgovernment and corporate domination and inordinate influence.

Community organizing is sometimes focused on more than just resolvingspecific issues. Organizing often means building a widely accessiblepower structure, often with the end goal of distributing power equallythroughout the community. Community organizers generally seek to buildgroups that are open and democratic in governance. Such groupsfacilitate and encourage consensus decision-making with a focus on thegeneral health of the community rather than a specific interest group.

The three basic types of community organizing are grassroots organizing,coalition building, and faith-based community organizing (also called“institution-based community organizing,” “broad-based communityorganizing” or “congregation-based community organizing”).

Community service is usually performed in connection with a nonprofitorganization, but it may also be undertaken under the auspices ofgovernment, one or more businesses, or by individuals. It is typicallyunpaid and voluntary. However, it can be part of alternative sentencingapproaches in a justice system and it can be required by educationalinstitutions.

The most common usage of the word “community” indicates a large groupliving in close proximity. Examples of local community include: Amunicipality is an administrative local area generally composed of aclearly defined territory and commonly referring to a town or village.Although large cities are also municipalities, they are often thought ofas a collection of communities, due to their diversity.

A neighborhood is a geographically localized community, often within alarger city or suburb. A planned community is one that was designed fromscratch and grew up more or less following the plan. Several of theworld's capital cities are planned cities, notably Washington, D.C., inthe United States, Canberra in Australia, and Brasilia in Brazil. It wasalso common during the European colonization of the Americas to buildaccording to a plan either on fresh ground or on the ruins of earlierAmerindian cities. Identity: In some contexts, “community” indicates agroup of people with a common identity other than location. Membersoften interact regularly. Common examples in everyday usage include: A“professional community” is a group of people with the same or relatedoccupations. Some of those members may join a professional society,making a more defined and formalized group.

These are also sometimes known as communities of practice. A virtualcommunity is a group of people primarily or initially communicating orinteracting with each other by means of information technologies,typically over the Internet, rather than in person. These may be eithercommunities of interest, practice or communion. (See below.) Researchinterest is evolving in the motivations for contributing to onlinecommunities.

Some communities share both location and other attributes. Memberschoose to live near each other because of one or more common interests.A retirement community is designated and at least usually designed forretirees and seniors—often restricted to those over a certain age, suchas 55. It differs from a retirement home, which is a single building orsmall complex, by having a number of autonomous households.

An intentional community is a deliberate residential community with amuch higher degree of social interaction than other communities. Themembers of an intentional community typically hold a common social,political or spiritual vision and share responsibilities and resources.Intentional communities include Amish villages, ashrams, cohousing,communes, ecovillages, housing cooperatives, kibbutzim, and land trusts.

Special nature of human community Music in Central Park, a public space.Definitions of community as “organisms inhabiting a common environmentand interacting with one another,” while scientifically accurate, do notconvey the richness, diversity and complexity of human communities.Their classification, likewise is almost never precise. Untidy as it maybe, community is vital for humans. M. Scott Peck expresses this in thefollowing way: “There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can beno community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, andultimately no life, without community.” This conveys some of thedistinctiveness of human community.

Embodiments described herein in FIGS. 1-11 govern a new kind of socialnetwork for neighborhoods, according to one embodiment (e.g., may beprivate and/or wiki-editable search engine based). It should be notedthat in some embodiments, the address of an user may be masked from thepublic search (but still may be used for privacy considerations),according to one embodiment. Some embodiments have no preseeded data,whereas others might. Embodiments described herein may present rich,location specific information on individual residents and businesses.

A user can “Claim” one or more Business Pages and/or a ResidentialPages, according to one embodiment. In order to secure their Claim, theuser may verify their location associated with the Business Page and/orResidential page within 30 days, or the page becomes released to thecommunity, according to one embodiment. A user can only have a maximumof 3 unverified Claims out at any given time, according to oneembodiment. When a user clicks on “Claim this Page” on Business Profilepage and/or a Residential Profile page, they can indicate the manner inwhich they intend to verify their claim, according to one embodiment.Benefits of Claiming a Business Page and/or Residential page may enablethe user to mark their page ‘Self-Editable only’ from the default ‘FullyEditable’ status, and see “Private” listings in a claimed neighborhoodaround the verified location, according to one embodiment. Each edit bya user on a Residential Profile page and/or a Business Profile page maybe made visible on the profile page, along with a date stamp, accordingto one embodiment.

Browse function: Based on the user's current location, the browsefunction may display a local map populated with pushpins forlocation-specific information, and a news feed, made up of business pageedits, public people page edits, any recent broadcasts, etc., accordingto one embodiment. The news feed may show up on each Business Page andeach Residential Page, based on activity in the surrounding area,according to one embodiment. Secure a Neighborhood function: May allowthe user to identify and “secure” a neighborhood, restricting certaintypes of access to verified residents, according to one embodiment. Adda Pushpin function: May allow any registered or verified user to add anytype of Pushpin (as described in FIG. 8), to one embodiment.

In addition to the map, the search results page may display a news feed,made up of business page edits, public people page edits, any recentbroadcasts, and autogenerated alerts who has moved into theneighborhood, who has moved out of the neighborhood, any recent reviewsin the neighborhood, any pushpins placed in the immediate area, etc.,according to one embodiment. The news feed may prioritize entriesrelating to the search results, and will take into account privacypolicies and preferences, according to one embodiment.

Example Newsfeeds may include:

Joe Smith moved into the neighborhood in September 2013. Welcome Joe!Like Share; 43 neighbors (hyperlink) moved in to the Cupertino libraryneighborhood in July 2013. Like Share; 12 neighbors (hyperlink) verifiedin to the Cupertino library neighborhood in July 2013. Like Share; RajAbhyanker invited Paul Smith, a guest to the Cupertino neighborhood. Rajindicates Paul is a friend from college looking to move into theneighborhood. Welcome Paul!; Raj Abhyanker posted a Nissan Leaf for rent$35 a day, in mountain view Rent now. Like Share

This content may feed each Profile Page and helps to increase SearchEngine value for content on the site, according to one embodiment.Alerts may be created and curated (prioritized, filtered) automaticallyand/or through crowdsourcing, to keep each page vibrant and activelyupdating on a regular basis (ideally once a day or more), according toone embodiment.

A Multi-Family Residence page will display a list of residents in theentire building, according to one embodiment. Clicking on any residentwill display a Single Family Residence page corresponding to theindividual living unit where that person resides, according to oneembodiment.

For example, suppose that John Smith and Jane Smith live in apartment 12of a large building. Their names are included in the list of residents.When a user clicks on either John Smith or Jane Smith, we will display a“Single Family Residence” page showing both John and Jane, just as ifapartment 12 was a separate structure, according to one embodiment.

The broadcast feature (e.g., associated with the neighborhood broadcastdata and generated by the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of the socialcommunity module 106) may be a “Radio” like function that uses themobile device's current geospatial location to send out information toneighbors around the present geospatial location of the user, accordingto one embodiment. Broadcasts may be posted to neighbor pages in thegeospatial vicinity (e.g., in the same neighborhood) on public andprivate pages in the geospatial social network, according to oneembodiment. These broadcasts may enable any user, whether they live in aneighborhood or not to communicate their thoughts to those that live orwork (or have claimed) a profile in the neighborhood around where thebroadcaster is physically at, regardless of where the broadcaster lives,according to one embodiment. Broadcasts can be audio, video, pictures,and or text, according to one embodiment. For accountability, thebroadcaster may be a verified user and their identity made public to allusers who receive the broadcast in one embodiment.

This means that the broadcast feature may be restricted to be used onlyby devices (e.g., mobile phones) that have a GPS chip (or othergeolocation device) that an identify a present location of where thebroadcast is originating from, according to one embodiment. Thebroadcast may be sent to all users who have claimed a profile in the geospatial vicinity where the broadcast originates, according to oneembodiment. This can either be broadcast live to whoever is “tuned” into a broadcast of video, audio, picture, and text in their neighborhood,or can be posted on each users profile if they do not hear the broadcastto the neighborhood in a live mode in one embodiment.

When a broadcast is made neighbors, around where the broadcast is made,they may receive a message that says something like:

Raj Abhyanker, a user in Menlo Park just broadcast “Japanese culturalprogram” video from the Cupertino Union church just now. Watch, Listen,View

This broadcast may be shared with neighbors around Menlo park, and or inCupertino. This way, Raj's neighbors and those in Cupertino can knowwhat is happening in their neighborhoods, according to one embodiment.In one embodiment, the broadcast only goes to one area (Cupertino orMenlo park in the example above).

Broadcasts could be constrained to devices that have geospatial accuracyof present location and a current only (mobile devices for example).Otherwise, broadcasts won't mean much, according to one embodiment(would otherwise be just like thoughts/video upload without this).Broadcasts shouldn't be confused with ‘upload videos’, according to oneembodiment. Different concepts. Why? Broadcasts have an accuracy of timeand location that cannot be altered by a user, according to oneembodiment, hence, mobile is the most likely medium for this not desktopcomputer, according to one embodiment. We should not let the user settheir own location for broadcasts (like other pushpin types), accordingto one embodiment. Also time is fixed, according to one embodiment.Fixing and not making these two variables editable give users confidencethat the broadcast was associated with a particular time and place, andcreates a very unique feature, according to one embodiment. For example,it would be not useful if the broadcast is untrusted as to location oforigination, according to one embodiment. E.g., I broadcast when I amsomewhere only about the location I am at, according to one embodiment.

Broadcasts are different that other pushpins because location of where abroadcast, and time of broadcast is

*current location* and *current time*, according to one embodiment. Theyare initiated wherever a broadcaster is presently at, and added to thenews feed in the broadcasters neighborhood and in the area wherever abroadcaster is presently at, according to one embodiment.

Broadcast rules may include:

1. If I post a Broadcast in my secured neighborhood, only my neighborscan see it, according to one embodiment.

2. If I post a Broadcast in different secured neighborhood then my own,my neighbors can see it (e.g., unless I turn this off in my privacysetting) and neighbors in the secured neighborhood can see it (e.g.,default not turn-offable, but I can delete my broadcast), according toone embodiment.

3. If I post a Broadcast in different unsecured neighborhood then myown, my neighbors can see it (unless I turn this off in my privacysetting) and the broadcast is publicly visible on user pages of publicuser profiles in the unsecured neighborhood until profiles are claimedand/or the neighborhood is secured, according to one embodiment.

4. If an outsider in a secure neighborhood posts a broadcast in mysecure neighborhood, it's not public, according to one embodiment.

5. If an outsider in a unsecure neighborhood posts a broadcast in mysecure neighborhood, the system does not post on profiles in hisunsecure neighborhood (to prevent stalking, burglary), but does post inmy secure neighborhood, according to one embodiment.

Privacy settings. For each verified residential or business location,the user may set Privacy to Default, Public, Private, or Inactive,according to one embodiment. The Default setting (which is the default)means that the profile will be public, until the neighborhood issecured; in a secured neighborhood, the profile will be Private,according to one embodiment. By changing this setting, the user mayforce the profile to be Public or Private, regardless of whether theneighborhood is secured, according to one embodiment.

For each verified residential location, the user may set edit access toGroup Editable or Self Editable, according to one embodiment.

Residential Privacy example. The residential profiles can be: Public:anyone can search, browse, or view the user profile, according to oneembodiment. This is the default setting for unsecured neighborhoods(initially, all the content on the site), according to one embodiment.Private: only people in my neighborhood can search, browse, or view theuser's profile, according to one embodiment. This is the default forsecured neighborhoods, according to one embodiment. Inactive: nobody cansearch, browse, or view the profile, even within a secured neighborhood,according to one embodiment. A user may have at least one active (publicor private), verified profile in order to have edit capabilities,according to one embodiment; if the user makes all profiles inactive,that user is treated (for edit purposes) as an unverified user,according to one embodiment.

Verified users can edit the privacy setting for their profile andoverride the default, according to one embodiment. Group Editable:anyone with access to a profile based on the privacy roles above canedit the profile, according to one embodiment. This is the defaultsetting, according to one embodiment Self Editable, only the verifiedowner of a profile can edit that profile, according to one embodiment.

Exceptions Guest User. A verified user in another neighborhood is given“Guest” access to a neighborhood for a maximum of 60 days by a verifieduser in the neighborhood in which the guest access is given, accordingto one embodiment. In effect, the guest becomes a member of theneighborhood for a limited period, according to one embodiment. Friend.When a user has self-elected being friends with someone in a differentneighborhood, they can view each other's profiles only (not theirneighbors), according to one embodiment. One way for a user to verify alocation is to submit a scanned utility bill, according to oneembodiment.

When a moderator selects the Verify Utility Bills function, the screenwill display a list of items for processing, according to oneembodiment. Accept the utility bill as a means of verification,according to one embodiment. This will verify the user's location, andwill also generate an e-mail to the user, according to one embodiment.Or Decline the utility bill as a means of verification, according to oneembodiment. There will be a drop-down list to allow the moderator toselect a reason, according to one embodiment; this reason will beincluded in an e-mail message to the user. Reasons may include: Namedoes not match, address does not match, name/address can't be read, nota valid utility bill, according to one embodiment.

In one embodiment, a method includes associating a verified registereduser (e.g., a verified registered user 1310 of FIG. 13A-B, a verifiedregistered user 1310 of FIG. 16) with a user profile, associating theuser profile (e.g., the user profile 1200 of FIG. 12A) with a specificgeographic location, generating a map (e.g., a map 1701 of FIG. 17)concurrently displaying the user profile and/or the specific geographiclocation and simultaneously generating, in the map (e.g., the map 1701of FIG. 17), claimable profiles (e.g., a claimable profile 1206 of FIG.12A-12B, a claimable profile 1302 of FIG. 13A, a claimable profile 1704of FIG. 17) associated with different geographic locations surroundingthe specific geographic location associated with the user profile (e.g.,the user profile 1200 of FIG. 12A).

In another embodiment, a system includes a plurality of neighborhoods(e.g., the neighborhood(s) 102A-N of FIG. 1) having registered usersand/or unregistered users of a global neighborhood environment (e.g., aprivacy server 100 of FIG. 1), a social community module (e.g., a socialcommunity module 106 of FIG. 1, a social community module 106 of FIG. 2)of the global neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 ofFIG. 1) to generate a building creator (e.g., through building builder200 of FIG. 2) in which the registered users may create and/or modifyempty claimable profiles (e.g., the claimable profile 1206 of FIG.12A-12B, the claimable profile 1302 of FIG. 13A, the claimable profile1704 of FIG. 17), building layouts, social network pages, and/or floorlevels structures housing residents and businesses in the neighborhood(e.g., the neighborhood 100 of FIG. 1), a claimable module (e.g., aclaimable module 110 of FIG. 1, a claimable module 110 of FIG. 4) of theglobal neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1)to enable the registered users to create a social network page ofthemselves, and/or to edit information associated with the unregisteredusers identifiable through a viewing of physical properties in which theunregistered users reside when the registered users have knowledge ofcharacteristics associated with the unregistered users.

In addition, the system may include search module (e.g., a search module108 of FIG. 1, a search module 108 of FIG. 3) of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) to enable a peoplesearch (e.g., information stored in people database 216 of FIG. 2), abusiness search (e.g., information stored in business database 220 ofFIG. 2), and a category search of any data in the social communitymodule (a social community module 106 of FIG. 1, a social communitymodule 106 of FIG. 2) and/or to enable embedding of any content in theglobal neighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1)in other search engines, blogs, social networks, professional networksand/or static websites, a commerce module (e.g., a commerce module 112of FIG. 1, a commerce module 112 of FIG. 5) of the global neighborhoodenvironment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1).

The system may also provide an advertisement system to a business (e.g.,through business display advertisement module 502 of FIG. 5) whopurchase their location in the global neighborhood environment (e.g.,the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) in which the advertisement is viewableconcurrently with a map indicating a location of the business, and inwhich revenue is attributed to the global neighborhood environment(e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) when the registered usersand/or the unregistered users click-in on a simultaneously displayeddata of the advertisement along with the map indicating a location ofthe business, a map module (a map module 114 of FIG. 1) of the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) toinclude a map data associated with a satellite data which serves as abasis of rendering the map in the global neighborhood environment (e.g.,the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) and/or which includes a simplified mapgenerator (e.g., simplified map generator module 602 of FIG. 6) whichcan transform the map to a fewer color and location complex form using aparcel data which identifies at least some residence, civic, and/orbusiness locations in the satellite data.

In yet another embodiment, a global neighborhood environment (e.g., aprivacy server 100 of FIG. 1) includes a first instruction set to enablea social network to reside above a map data, in which the social networkmay be associated with specific geographical locations identifiable inthe map data, a second instruction set integrated with the firstinstruction set to enable the users (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1) ofthe social network to create profiles of other people through a forumwhich provides a free form of expression of the users sharinginformation about any entities and/or people residing in anygeographical location identifiable in the satellite map data, and/or toprovide a technique of each of the users (e.g., the user 116 of FIG. 1)to claim a geographic location (a geographic location 1204 of FIG. 12A)to control content in their respective claimed geographic locations anda third instruction set integrated with the first instruction set and/orthe second instruction set to enable searching of people in the globalneighborhood environment (e.g., the privacy server 100 of FIG. 1) byindexing each of the data shared by the users (e.g., the user 116 ofFIG. 1) of any of the people and entities residing in any geographiclocation (a geographic location 1204 of FIG. 12A).

An example embodiment will now be described. A person confronted with anemergency situation (e.g. the user 116, the verified user 706) may senda broadcast on a geospatially constrained social network (e.g.Fatdoor.com, Nextdoor.com). To accomplish this broadcast the person maygenerate the broadcast data 102 which will be sent to the privacy server100 to generate the notification data 112. The notification data 112 mayinclude any information contained in the broadcast data 102 such as thegeospatial location, time, date, a textual description and livebroadcast of audio and/or video generated by the user 116. Thenotification data 112 may then be radially distributed in the area witha threshold radial distance of the epicenter that may be the location ofthe device observing the emergency. The person may be hoping forimmediate assistance from other people living nearby (e.g. therecipients (e.g., other users of the neighborhood communication system150 such as neighbors 128 of FIG. 1)) to help confront the emergencysituation. Rather than attempt to contact those living nearbyindividually, the person experiencing the emergency may broadcast thenotification 112 to proximate neighbors simultaneously, maximizing thechance that a relevant person will appreciate, view and/or respond tothe broadcast.

Additionally, for example, the broadcast may even occur automaticallyupon the dialing of neighborhood services as to allow concurrentnotification of nearby recipients (e.g., other users of the neighborhoodcommunication system 150 such as neighbors 128 of FIG. 1) withoutdetracting from a conventional mode of contacting emergency services(e.g. the emergency call 1200). The emergency call 1200 may be monitoredby the privacy server 100 to automatically generate the neighborhoodbroadcast data, including live audio of the call which the privacyserver 100 may use to create a transcript 1204. The transcript 1204,along with metadata from the call that may include the geospatiallocation of the mobile device on which the call was made may then bebroadcast according to the social community module 106 to nearbyrecipients (e.g., other users of the neighborhood communication system150 such as neighbors 128 of FIG. 1). The recipients (e.g., other usersof the neighborhood communication system 150 such as neighbors 128 ofFIG. 1) may then be notified of the emergency situation and/or promptedto respond without detracting from a call to the neighborhood services.

For example, in an elementary school setting (e.g., the threshold radialdistance may be set to a boundaries of the elementary school using theBezier curve algorithm 240 of the social community module 106). Aprincipal of the Sacred Brooks Elementary School Mr. Higgins may heargunshots that he believes are coming from an on-campus location. Screamsof panicked teachers and children may soon follow. Mr. Higgins may usehis mobile device (e.g., his cellular phone) to call an emergency number‘911’. Calling this emergency number ‘911’ may also trigger an automaticalert to the privacy server 100 to generate the neighborhood broadcastdata (or alternatively Mr. Higgins may separately send an emergencybroadcast (e.g., a neighborhood broadcast using the Bezier curvealgorithm 240 of the social community module 106) using the Fatdoormobile application). All teachers at the school and parents in adjacentneighborhoods may be instantly notified (e.g., through the creation ofthe neighborhood broadcast data distributed as the notification data112).

Wilson Brighton at the Fatdoor Emergency Center may receive a messagethat there is an emergency at the Sacred Brooks Elementary school.Wilson Brighton may open up a communication channel with Mr. Brightonand invite adjacent neighborhoods and medical professionals havingclaimed profiles and/or living in the area to help. In addition, Wilsonmay merge the emergency transmissions into a single session so that Mr.Higgins initial emergency broadcast (e.g., a neighborhood broadcastusing the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of the social community module 106)is automatically merged with related other broadcasts by teachers,parents, staff, and children at the school. This single thread ofbroadcasts related to the Sacred Brooks Elementary school may beprovided as live-feed emergency broadcast (e.g., a neighborhoodbroadcast using the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of the social communitymodule 106)s to all users of Fatdoor.com having a claimed profile (e.g.,a home address and/or a work address) within the threshold radialdistance from Mr. Higgins (e.g., the epicenter of the broadcast). Evenwhen parents are at work, they may still receive the broadcast live ontheir mobile devices because they have downloaded the Fatdoorapplication and have claimed their home/business address around alocation of the emergency.

As a result, local neighborhood parents may arrive from their worklocations, even when they work at a different location than where theylive. This may save lives at the Sacred Brooks elementary school becausehelp may arrive sooner.

For example, one recipient of Mr. Higgin's broadcast may be SamuelWilson (“Sam”), who has two children at Sacred Brooks Elementary School:John, a bright kindergartener 6, and Samantha, a talented artist of age10. Sam may be alerted even when he is at work on a construction site 6miles away from the Sacred Brooks Elementary School where John andSamatha are located. Sam may receive an alert on his mobile phone thatthere is an emergency in his neighborhood. Jumping into his truck, Sammay drive to the school to render assistance, tuning in to the livebroadcast as events unfold. Others may join in and as well andcommunicate and provide instructions and reassurance to Mr. Higgins andother broadcasters.

Nearby resident Chen Su, whose backyard fence adjoins the playground ofSacred Brooks, may also receive the broadcast. Chen may run outside andunlock his gate, opening it so that children may not be trapped in theplayground area. Chen may then send a separate broadcast a new escaperoute has been established. Mr. Higgins may gather as many nearbychildren as he can and lead them safety through Chen's gate.

Henry Stewart, a decorated army veteran who lives a few blocks away fromSacred Brooks Elementary, may also receive the broadcast. Alarmed forthe safety of the children, and knowing that it may take the policeseveral minutes to arrive at the school, Henry may decide that it willmaximize the children chance at survival if he is the first responder.Equipping his .22 caliber rifle, he may run to the school and distractor defeat the shooter in time to save many lives.

Similarly, Dr. Juan Sanchez, M.D. may have an office in the neighborhoodimmediately adjacent to Sacred Brooks. Dr. Sanchez and his team ofmedical professionals may rush to the scene, engaging in bi-directionalcommunications with the school staff during the live broadcast event sothat he knows exactly which building to arrive at. Calming victims andputting pressure on wounds until ambulances arrive, Dr. Sanchez and histeam may save the lives of wounded children.

When the incident is over, many people may want to recreate the eventsfor journalistic or evidentiary purposes. They may also want to studygenerally the flow of information during emergencies in theirneighborhood, and decide how their school could better prepare.Similarly, they may want to ensure they are part of the broadcast systemin cast there are future incidents. Persons who have not yet claimedtheir verified profiles in the area surrounding Sacred Brooks ElementarySchool on Fatdoor may go online and find profiles pre-seeded with dataassociated with their address. Those pre-seeded profiles may have beenupdated with local broadcasts. These people may be able to claim theirprofile and have access to previous broadcasts, including thoseassociated with the school shootings. This may help them to betterprepare for the safety of their children.

Because of the technologies described herein, the neighborhood, city,and country is a better place because emergency response teams aresupplemented with information from those who have a claimed geo-spatiallocation around a neighborhood in which there is trouble. In addition,evidence may be formed that is admissible to prove guilt of the gunmen,defeat a defense of insanity, or impose a maximum sentence.

In another example, a user Bob Jones may be walking around Menlo Park,Calif. when he observes a robber pull out a knife and threaten to harmPaula Nelson in a parking lot if she does not give the robber her carkeys. Bob may take out his mobile device and select the emergencylisting criteria “major violent crime” in the user interface of themobile application that communicates with the emergency response server.Bob may center his viewfinder on the unfolding robbery and select the“broadcast live” indicator on the user interface, as well as enteringthe brief description “Car jacking in progress” in a small data field.The broadcast data, including live video and audio, may be generated andsent to the emergency response server where it may be radiallydistributed to user profiles at a threshold radial distance from theepicenter centered on Bob's mobile device. Because Bob specified theemergency as a “major violent crime” its threshold radial distance maybe larger than if Bob had selected mere “vandalism.”

To further illustrate, several relevant parties may receive thebroadcast. Patrick Sloan, an off-duty police detective, is alerted toBob Jones' broadcast data by a notification sent to his mobile device.Patrick, looks his mobile device to read Bob's brief description, andnotices that the event is only “0.3 miles away.” Patrick selects the“respond indicator” to let Bob know he is on his way, and also selects“dial broadcaster” to establish a bi-directional communication with Bob.A map on Patrick's mobile device and a set of directions may showPatrick the fastest way to travel to the epicenter, along with warningPatrick when he is within 100 yards of the emergency.

Jason Steinbrenner, a retired surgeon, also receives Bob's broadcast.Jason opts to view Bob's live video feed. Jason notices that the robberseverely lacerates Paula with his knife as he grabs Paula's keys away.Jason sees that he is only 0.7 miles away from the emergency and alsoselects the “respond indicator” to let Bob know he will arrive shortly.Through his user interface he sends Bob a text message “I'm a doctor.”

Jane Doe, a resident living within the threshold radial distance alsoreceives Bob's broadcast. Jane, while viewing Bob's live feed, takesnote of the vehicle make, model and color. As the robber gets in Paula'scar and drives away, out of Bob's view, Jane goes to her apartmentwindow and looks outside. A minute later, Jane sees the woman's car,driven by the robber, headed down her street, trying to keep a lowprofile. Jane generates her own broadcast including a video feed of thecar stopped at a stoplight. Patrick Sloan, driving his car to reachBob's location, receives Jane's broadcast. Patrick, now using Jane'sepicenter, redirects his path to intercept the robber. Using Jane's livevideo broadcast to remotely view the intersection, Patrick is able tosafely approach the robber from behind and surprise him at thestoplight, capturing him.

Emergency services, which may subscribe to all emergency broadcast(e.g., a neighborhood broadcast using the Bezier curve algorithm 240 ofthe social community module 106)s within the threshold radial distanceof the epicenter, may also have been notified. The police department andan ambulance arrive after Patrick catches the robber and Jasonstabilizes the woman.

Bob and Jane may receive a summary of their broadcast data that showsthem how many recipients received his broadcast, the emergency servicescontacted, and who was responding. Their broadcast submissions may alsoinclude a unique identifies such that the live video, recorded by theemergency response server, which may be later retrieved to provideevidence against the robber with a unique identification code.

Because of the emergency response sever described in FIGS. 1-11, Jasonwas able to arrive on the scene faster than emergency services, puttingpressure on Paula's wound to prevent detrimental bleeding. The broadcastsystem also allowed Patrick to catch the perpetrator both because he wasa concerned local resident and because other nearby residents, such asJane, were alerted by Bob's original broadcast and were thereforeprepared to provide additional helpful broadcasts.

Bob and Jane may live in the Lorelei neighborhood of Menlo Park, and forthis reason receive the emergency broadcast data (e.g., a neighborhoodbroadcast generated by the social community module 106). If Bob createsan emergency broadcast, Bob may choose to restrict dissemination of hisemergency broadcast just to the Lorelei neighborhood because it is an‘active’ neighborhood around where Bob lives. Particularly, a minimumnumber of Bob's neighbors in the Lorelei neighborhood, such as 10neighbors in the Lorelei neighborhood, may have signed up and verifiedtheir profiles through an online neighborhood social network (e.g.,Fatdoor.com). If Bob is the first user that creates a private networkfor his neighborhood (e.g., a ‘founding member’), he may need to drawgeospatial boundaries and/or claim geospatial boundaries around hisneighborhood and invite a threshold number of neighbors (e.g., 10neighbors) to activate it. An amount of time for Bob to invite andactivate his neighborhood may be limited (e.g., 21 days). However, Bobmay request an extension of time from the privacy server 100 if Bobneeds more time to invite users, and the privacy server 100 may grantthis extra time. In other words, if Bob is a founding member, he mayhave the ability to define the neighborhood boundary and choose theneighborhood name.

The privacy server 100 may internally make corrections to either theboundaries or name that Bob set based on feedback from other neighborsand/or based on internal policies. These internal policies may include apreference for a use of official names for a community (e.g., based onlocal thoroughfares, a nearby park, or landmark for inspiration), aneighborhood name that is short and sweet (e.g., eliminating unnecessarywords like city, state, neighbors, neighborhood, HOA, friends, etc.),with correct capitalization (e.g., to ensure that a first letter of eachword is capitalized), and/or use of spaces between each word in aneighborhood name. In one embodiment, Bob may designate neighborhood‘leads’ who can adjust boundaries of their neighborhood through anadjust boundaries tool. Bob may be part of an elite group ofneighborhood ‘leads’ who keep the privacy server 100 operating smoothlyby organizing information and posting neighborhood-wide information. Theneighborhood leads like Bob may have special privileges such as removinginappropriate messages, adjusting neighborhood boundaries, verifyingunverified members, editing the about section on a neighborhood feed,and/or promoting other members to become neighborhood leads.

Bob and his neighbors may have each verified their addresses through apostcard verification system in which they received a postcard at theirhome with an access code that permits each of them to access theirprivate Lorelei neighborhood community information including emergencybroadcast alerts in the online neighborhood social network (e.g., theFatmail postcard system through which an access code may have beenreceived at a respective Lorelei home that uniquely identifies andverifies a home in the Lorelei neighborhood). Bob may have invited athreshold number (e.g., 10) of his Lorelei neighbors prior to theLorelei neighborhood becoming active. Bob may choose to disseminate hisemergency broadcast data to a neighborhood adjacent to Lorelei, such asMenlo Park downtown (e.g., using the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of thesocial community module 106). Optionally, Bob may choose to restrict hisemergency broadcast data just to Lorelei neighbors (e.g., using theBezier curve algorithm 240 of the social community module 106). In otherwords, users of the neighborhood social network in an entirely differentneighborhood, such as the Financial District neighborhood of SanFrancisco (about 20 miles away) may not be able to access the emergencybroadcast data that Bob generates.

For example, the emergency broadcast data may be disseminated toadjacent neighborhoods that have been claimed by different users in amanner such that the emergency broadcast data is optionally disseminatedto the surrounding claimed neighborhoods based on Bob's preference.

It will be understood with those skill in the art that in someembodiments, the social community module 106 may restrict disseminationof broadcast data by verified users to claimed neighborhoods in aprivate neighborhood social network (e.g. the privacy server 100 may bea private social network, the neighborhood curation system describedherein may also be part of the private neighborhood social network) inwhich the broadcaster resides (e.g., has a home) using the radialalgorithm (e.g., the Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2). The privacyserver 100 may include online communities designed to easily createprivate websites to facilitate communication among neighbors and buildstronger neighborhoods (e.g., to help neighbors build stronger and saferneighborhoods).

Further, it follows that the threshold radial distance generated throughthe Bezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 may take on a variety of shapesother than purely circular and is defined to encompass a variety ofshapes based on associated geographic, historical, political and/orcultural connotations of associated boundaries of neighborhoods and/oras defined by a city, municipality, government, and/or data provider(e.g., Maponics®, Urban Mapping®), in one embodiment. For example, thethreshold radial distance may be based on a particular context, such asa school boundary, a neighborhood boundary, a college campus boundary, asubdivision boundary, a parcel boundary, and/or a zip code boundary. Inan alternate embodiment, a first claiming user 116 in a particularneighborhood may draw a polygon to indicate a preferred boundary.

In an alternative embodiment, the threshold radial distance generatedusing the Bezier curve algorithm 240 by the privacy server 100 may berestricted to a shared apartment building (e.g., and/or an officebuilding). In addition, it will be understood with those skilled in theart that the privacy server 100 may be operate as a function of theprivacy server 100 (e.g., a neighborhood social network).

In addition, it will be understood that in some embodiments, theneighborhood broadcast data is generated by the police department (e.g.,and/or others of the neighborhood services) in the form of crime alerts,health alerts, fire alerts, and other emergency alerts and provided as afeed (e.g., a Real Simple Syndication (RSS) feed) to the privacy server100 for distribution to relevant ones of the claimed neighborhoods inthe privacy server 100. It will be understood that the neighborhoodbroadcast data may appear in a ‘feed’ provided to users of the privacyserver 100 (e.g., a private social network for neighbors) on theirprofile pages based on access control privileges set by the socialcommunity module using the Bezier curve algorithm 240. For example,access to the neighborhood broadcast data may be limited to just aclaimed neighborhood (e.g., as defined by neighborhood boundaries)and/or optionally adjacent neighborhoods.

In one embodiment, the privacy server 100 may provide police departmentsand other municipal agencies with a separate login in which they caninvite neighbors themselves, provide for a virtual neighborhood watchand emergency preparedness groups, and conduct high value crime andsafety related discussions from local police and fire officials withoutrequiring any technical integration. This may provide police departmentsand municipalities with a single channel to easily broadcast informationacross neighborhoods that they manage, and receive and trackneighborhood level membership and activity to identify leaders of aneighborhood.

For example, communications defined from one broadcasting user to anadjacent neighborhood o may involve sharing information about asuspicious activity that might affect several neighborhoods, explainingabout a lost pet that might have wandered into an adjoiningneighborhood, to rally support from neighbors from multipleneighborhoods to address civic issues, to spread the word about eventslike local theater production or neighborhood garage sales, and/or toask for advice or recommendations from the widest range of people in acommunity). In one embodiment, the privacy server 100 may preventself-promotional messages that are inappropriate (e.g., a user sendingsuch messages may be suspended from the geospatially constrained socialnetwork using the crowd sourced moderation algorithm 204. In oneembodiment, the user 116 may personalize nearby neighborhoods so thatthe user can choose exactly which nearby neighborhoods (if any) theywish to communicate with. The user 116 may be able to flag aneighborhood feeds from adjacent neighborhoods. In addition, leadersfrom a particular neighborhood may be able to communicate privately withleaders of an adjoining neighborhood to plan and organize on behalf ofan entire constituency. Similarly, users 106 may be able to filter feedsto only display messages from the neighborhood that they reside in. Theuser 116 may be able to restrict posts (e.g., pushpin placements) onlyin the neighborhood they are presently in. In one embodiment, nearbyneighbors may (or may not) be able to access profiles of adjacentneighborhoods.

It will also be understood that in some embodiments, that users may be‘verified’ through alternate means, for example through a utility billverification (e.g., to verify that a user's address on a utility billmatches the residential address they seek to claim), a credit cardverification (e.g., or debit card verification), a phone numberverification (e.g., reverse phone number lookup), a privately-publishedaccess code (e.g., distributed to a neighborhood association president,and/or distributed at a neighborhood gathering), and a neighbor vouchingmethod (e.g., in which an existing verified neighbor ‘vouches’ for a newneighbor as being someone that they personally know to be living in aneighborhood.

In one embodiment, the privacy server 100 ensures a secure and trustedenvironment for a neighborhood website by requiring all members toverify their address. In this embodiment, verification may provideassurance the assurance that new members are indeed residing at theaddress they provided when registering for an account in the privacyserver 100. Once a neighborhood has launched out of pilot status, onlymembers who have verified their address may be able access to theirneighborhood website content.

It will be understood that among the various ways of verifying anaddress, a user of the privacy server 100 may uses the following methodsto verify the address of every member:

A. Postcard. The privacy server 100 can send a postcard to the addresslisted on an account of the user 116 with a unique code printed on it(e.g., using the Fatmail postcard campaign). The code may allow the user116 to log in and verify their account.

B. Credit or Debit Card. The privacy server 100 may be able to verify ahome address through a credit or debit card billing address. In oneembodiment, billing address may be confirmed without storing personallyidentifiable information and/or charging a credit card.

C. Home Phone. If a user 116 has a landline phone, the user may receivean automated phone call from the privacy server 100 that may providewith a unique code to verify an account of the user 116.

D. Neighborhood Leader. A neighborhood leader of the geo-spatiallyconstrained social network can use a verify neighbors feature of theprivacy server 100 to vouch for and verify neighbors.

E. Mobile Phone. A user 116 may receive a call to a mobile phoneassociated with the user 116 to verify their account.

F. Neighbor Invitations. A neighbor who is a verified member of theprivacy server 100 can vouch for, and may invite another neighbor tojoin the privacy server 100. Accepting such an invitation may allow theuser 116 to join the privacy server 100 as a verified member, accordingto one embodiment.

H. Social Security Number (SSN). The privacy server 100 can verify ahome address when the user 116 provides the last 4 digits of a SSN(e.g., not stored by the privacy server 100 for privacy reasons).

It will be also understood that in a preferred embodiment neighborhoodboundaries are defined by the social community module 106 using theBezier curve algorithm 240 of FIG. 2 may be constrained to work inneighborhoods having a threshold number of homes (e.g., 10 homes,alternatively 100 homes in a neighborhood) and more (e.g., up tothousands of homes) as this may be needed to reach the critical mass ofactive posters that is needed to help the privacy server 100 succeed. Inone embodiment, ‘groups’ may be creatable in smaller neighborhoodshaving fewer than the threshold number of homes for communications inmicro-communities within a claimed neighborhood.

It will also be appreciated that in some embodiments, a mobile device(e.g., the device 1806, the device 1808 of FIG. 18) may be a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, and/or a non-transitory broadcastingmodule. In addition, it will be understood that the prepopulated data(e.g., preseeded data) described herein may not be created through datalicensed from others, but rather may be user generated content oforganically created profiles in the geo-spatial social network createdby different users who have each verified their profiles.

Although the present embodiments have been described with reference tospecific example embodiments, it will be evident that variousmodifications and changes may be made to these embodiments withoutdeparting from the broader spirit and scope of the various embodiments.For example, the various devices, modules, analyzers, generators, etc.described herein may be enabled and operated using hardware circuitry(e.g., CMOS based logic circuitry), firmware, software and/or anycombination of hardware, firmware, and/or software (e.g., embodied in amachine readable medium). For example, the various electrical structureand methods may be embodied using transistors, logic gates, andelectrical circuits (e.g., application specific integrated ASICcircuitry and/or in Digital Signal; Processor DSP circuitry).

For example, the social community module 106, the search module 108, theclaimable module 110, the commerce module 112, the map module 114, thebuilding builder module 200, the N^(th) degree module, the taggingmodule 204, the verify module 206, the groups generator module 208, thepushpin module 210, the profile module 212, the announce module 214, thefriend finder module 222, the neighbor-neighbor help module 224, thebusiness search module 302, the communicate module 306, the directoryassistance module 308, the embedding module 310, the no-match module312, the range selector module 314, the user-place claimable module, theuser-user claimable module 402, the user—neighbor claimable module 404,the user-business claimable module 406, the reviews module 408, thedefamation prevention module 410, the claimable social networkconversion module 412, the claim module 414, the data segment module416, the dispute resolution module 418, the resident announce paymentmodule 500, the business display advertisement module 502, thegeo-position advertisement ranking module 504, the content syndicationmodule 506, the text advertisement module 508, the community marketplace module 510, the click-in tracking module 512, the satellite datamodule 600, the cartoon map converter module 604, the profile pointermodule 606, the parcel module 608 and the occupant module 610 of FIGS.1-28 may be embodied through the social community circuit, the searchcircuit, the claimable circuit, the commerce circuit, the map circuit,the building builder circuit, the N^(th) degree circuit, the taggingcircuit, the verify circuit, the groups circuit, the pushpin circuit,the profile circuit, the announce circuit, the friends finder circuit,the neighbor-neighbor help circuit, the business search circuit, thecommunicate circuit, the embedding circuit, the no-match circuit, therange selector circuit, the user-place claimable circuit, the user-userclaimable circuit, the user-neighbor claimable circuit, theuser-business circuit, the reviews circuit, the defamation preventioncircuit, the claimable social network conversion circuit, the claimcircuit, the data segment circuit, the dispute resolution circuit, theresident announce payment circuit, the business display advertisementcircuit, the geo-position advertisement ranking circuit, the contentsyndication circuit, the text advertisement circuit, the communitymarket place circuit, the click-in tracking circuit, the satellite datacircuit, the cartoon map converter circuit, the profile pointer circuit,the parcel circuit, the occupant circuit using one or more of thetechnologies described herein.

In addition, it will be appreciated that the various operations,processes, and methods disclosed herein may be embodied in amachine-readable medium and/or a machine accessible medium compatiblewith a data processing system (e.g., a computer system), and may beperformed in any order. Accordingly, the specification and drawings areto be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A neighborhood communication system comprising: aprivacy server to verify that each user lives at a residence associatedwith a claimable residential address of the online community formedthrough a social community module of the privacy server using aprocessor and a memory; a network; and a mapping server communicativelycoupled with the privacy server through the network to generate alatitudinal data and a longitudinal data associated with each claimableresidential address of the online community associated with each user ofthe online community, wherein the privacy server to automaticallydetermine a set of access privileges in the online community associatedwith each user of the online community by constraining access in theonline community based on a neighborhood boundary determined using aBezier curve algorithm of the privacy server, wherein the privacy serverto optionally extend the threshold radial distance to an adjacentboundary of an adjacent neighborhood based a request of the particularuser, wherein the privacy server to generate a separate login to theonline community designed to be usable by at least one of a policedepartment, a municipal agency, a neighborhood association, and aneighborhood leader associated with the particular neighborhood, whereinthe separate login to permit at least one of the police department, themunicipal agency, the neighborhood association, and the neighborhoodleader to: invite residents of the particular neighborhood themselvesusing the privacy server using a self-authenticating access code thatpermits new users that enter the self-authenticating access code in theonline community to automatically join the particular neighborhood asverified users, generate at least one of a virtual neighborhood watchgroup and an emergency preparedness group restricted to users verifiedin the particular neighborhood using the privacy server, conduct highvalue crime and safety related discussions from local police and fireofficials that is restricted to users verified in the particularneighborhood using the privacy server, broadcast information across theparticular neighborhood, and receive and track neighborhood levelmembership and activity to identify leaders from the restricted group ofusers verified in the particular neighborhood using the privacy server.2. The neighborhood communication system of claim 1: wherein the privacyserver to transform the claimable residential address into a claimedaddress upon an occurrence of an event, wherein the privacy server toinstantiate the event when a particular user is associated with theclaimable residential address based on a verification of the particularuser as living at a particular residential address associated with theclaimable residential address using the privacy server, wherein theprivacy server to constrain the particular user to communicate throughthe online community only with a set of neighbors having verifiedaddresses using the privacy server, wherein the privacy server to definethe set of neighbors as other users of the online community that haveeach verified their addresses in the online community using the privacyserver and which have each claimed residential addresses that are in athreshold radial distance from the claimed address of the particularuser; and wherein the privacy server to apply an address verificationalgorithm associated with each user of the online community.
 3. Theneighborhood communication system of claim 2: wherein the privacy serverto constrain the threshold radial distance to be less than a distance ofthe neighborhood boundary using the Bezier curve algorithm, wherein theprivacy server to permit the neighborhood boundary to take on a varietyof shapes based on at least one of an associated geographic connotation,a historical connotation, a political connotation, and a culturalconnotation of neighborhood boundaries, and wherein the privacy serverto apply a database of constraints associated with neighborhoodboundaries that are imposed on a map view of the online community whenpermitting the neighborhood boundary to take on the variety of shapes.4. The neighborhood communication system of claim 3: wherein the privacyserver to generate a user-generated boundary in a form of a polygondescribing geospatial boundaries defining the particular neighborhoodwhen a first user of a particular neighborhood that verifies a firstresidential address of the particular neighborhood using the privacyserver prior to other users in that particular neighborhood verifyingtheir addresses in that particular neighborhood places a set of pointsdefining the particular neighborhood using a set of drawing tools in themap view of the online community.
 5. The neighborhood communicationsystem of claim 4: wherein the privacy server to permit each of therestricted group of users verified in the particular neighborhood usingthe privacy server to: share information about a suspicious activitythat is likely to affect several neighborhoods, explain about a lost petthat might have wandered into an adjoining neighborhood, rally supportfrom neighbors from multiple neighborhoods to address civic issues,spread information about events comprising a local theater productionand a neighborhood garage sale, and solicit advice and recommendationsfrom the restricted group of users verified in the particularneighborhood and optionally in the adjacent neighborhood.
 6. Theneighborhood communication system of claim 5: wherein the privacy serverto flag a neighborhood feed from the particular neighborhood andoptionally from the adjacent neighborhood as being inappropriate, andwherein the privacy server to suspend users that repeatedly communicateself-promotional messages that are inappropriate as voted based on asensibility of any one of the verified users of the particularneighborhood and optionally from the adjacent neighborhood.
 7. Theneighborhood communication system of claim 6: wherein the privacy serverto personalize which nearby neighborhoods that verified users are ableto communicate through based on a request of the particular user, andwherein the privacy server to permit the neighborhood leader tocommunicate privately with leaders of an adjoining neighborhood to planand organize on behalf of an entire constituency of verified users ofthe particular neighborhood associated with the neighborhood leader. 8.The neighborhood communication system of claim 7: wherein the privacyserver to filter feeds to only display messages from the particularneighborhood associated with each verified user, and wherein the privacyserver to restrict posts only in the particular neighborhood to verifiedusers having verified addresses within the neighborhood boundary.
 9. Theneighborhood communication system of claim 8 wherein the addressverification algorithm of the privacy server utilizes a set ofverification methods to perform verification of the particular userthrough any of a: a postcard verification method through which theprivacy server generates a physical postcard that is postal mailed toaddresses of requesting users in the particular neighborhood and havinga unique alphanumeric sequence in a form of an access code printedthereon which authenticates users that enter the access code to view andsearch privileges in the particular neighborhood of the onlinecommunity, a credit card verification method through which the privacyserver verifies the claimable residential address when at least one acredit card billing address and a debit card billing address is matchedwith an inputted address through an authentication services provider, aprivately-published access code method through which the privacy servercommunicates to user profiles of at least one of the police department,the municipal agency, the neighborhood association, and the neighborhoodleader an instant access code that is printable at town hall meetingsand gatherings sponsored by any one of the police department, themunicipal agency, the neighborhood association, and the neighborhoodleader, a neighbor vouching method through which the privacy serverauthenticates new users when existing verified users agree to acandidacy of new users in the particular neighborhood, a phoneverification method through which the privacy server authenticates newusers whose phone number is matched with an inputted phone numberthrough the authentication services provider, and a social securityverification method through which the privacy server authenticates newusers whose social security number is matched with an inputted socialsecurity number through the authentication services provider.
 10. Theneighborhood communication system of claim 9: wherein the privacy serverto initially set the particular neighborhood to a pilot phase status inwhich the online community of the particular neighborhood isprovisionally defined until a minimum number of users verify theirresidential addresses in the particular neighborhood through the privacyserver, and wherein the privacy server to automatically delete profilesof users that remain unverified after a threshold window of time. 11.The neighborhood communication system of claim 10 wherein theneighborhood communication system is designed to create private websitesto facilitate communication among neighbors and build strongerneighborhoods.
 12. A method of a neighborhood communication systemcomprising: verifying that each user lives at a residence associatedwith a claimable residential address of the online community formedthrough a social community module of the privacy server using aprocessor and a memory; generating a latitudinal data and a longitudinaldata associated with each claimable residential address of the onlinecommunity associated with each user of the online community; determininga set of access privileges in the online community associated with eachuser of the online community by constraining access in the onlinecommunity based on a neighborhood boundary determined using a Beziercurve algorithm of the privacy server; optionally extending thethreshold radial distance to an adjacent boundary of an adjacentneighborhood based a request of the particular user; generating aseparate login to the online community designed to be usable by at leastone of a police department, a municipal agency, a neighborhoodassociation, and a neighborhood leader associated with the particularneighborhood; permitting at least one of the police department, themunicipal agency, the neighborhood association, and the neighborhoodleader to at least one: invite residents of the particular neighborhoodthemselves using the privacy server using a self-authenticating accesscode that permits new users that enter the self-authenticating accesscode in the online community to automatically join the particularneighborhood as verified users, generate at least one of a virtualneighborhood watch group and an emergency preparedness group restrictedto users verified in the particular neighborhood using the privacyserver, conduct high value crime and safety related discussions fromlocal police and fire officials that is restricted to users verified inthe particular neighborhood using the privacy server, broadcastinformation across the particular neighborhood, and receive and trackneighborhood level membership and activity to identify leaders from therestricted group of users verified in the particular neighborhood usingthe privacy server.
 13. The method of claim 12: transforming theclaimable residential address into a claimed address upon an occurrenceof an event; instantiating the event when a particular user isassociated with the claimable residential address based on averification of the particular user as living at a particularresidential address associated with the claimable residential addressusing the privacy server; constraining the particular user tocommunicate through the online community only with a set of neighborshaving verified addresses using the privacy server; defining the set ofneighbors as other users of the online community that have each verifiedtheir addresses in the online community using the privacy server andwhich have each claimed residential addresses that are in a thresholdradial distance from the claimed address of the particular use; andapplying an address verification algorithm associated with each user ofthe online community using a privacy server.
 14. The method of claim 13:constraining the threshold radial distance to be less than a distance ofthe neighborhood boundary using the Bezier curve algorithm; permittingthe neighborhood boundary to take on a variety of shapes based on atleast one of an associated geographic connotation, a historicalconnotation, a political connotation, and a cultural connotation ofneighborhood boundaries; and applying a database of constraintsassociated with neighborhood boundaries that are imposed on a map viewof the online community when permitting the neighborhood boundary totake on the variety of shapes.
 15. The method of claim 14: generating auser-generated boundary in a form of a polygon describing geospatialboundaries defining the particular neighborhood when a first user of aparticular neighborhood that verifies a first residential address of theparticular neighborhood using the privacy server prior to other users inthat particular neighborhood verifying their addresses in thatparticular neighborhood places a set of points defining the particularneighborhood using a set of drawing tools in the map view of the onlinecommunity.
 16. The method of claim 15: permitting each of the restrictedgroup of users verified in the particular neighborhood using the privacyserver to: share information about a suspicious activity that is likelyto affect several neighborhoods, explain about a lost pet that mighthave wandered into an adjoining neighborhood, rally support fromneighbors from multiple neighborhoods to address civic issues, spreadinformation about events comprising a local theater production and aneighborhood garage sale, and solicit advice and recommendations fromthe restricted group of users verified in the particular neighborhoodand optionally in the adjacent neighborhood.
 17. The method of claim 16:flagging a neighborhood feed from the particular neighborhood andoptionally from the adjacent neighborhood as being inappropriate; andsuspending users that repeatedly communicate self-promotional messagesthat are inappropriate as voted based on a sensibility of any one of theverified users of the particular neighborhood and optionally from theadjacent neighborhood.
 18. The method of claim 17: personalizing whichnearby neighborhoods that verified users are able to communicate throughbased on a request of the particular user; and permitting theneighborhood leader to communicate privately with leaders of anadjoining neighborhood to plan and organize on behalf of an entireconstituency of verified users of the particular neighborhood associatedwith the neighborhood leader.
 19. The neighborhood communication systemof claim 18: filtering feeds to only display messages from theparticular neighborhood associated with each verified user; andrestricting posts only in the particular neighborhood to verified usershaving verified addresses within the neighborhood boundary.
 20. Themethod of claim 19: utilizing a set of verification methods to performverification of the particular user through: generating a physicalpostcard that is postal mailed to addresses of requesting users in theparticular neighborhood and having a unique alphanumeric sequence in aform of an access code printed thereon which authenticates users thatenter the access code to view and search privileges in the particularneighborhood of the online community; verifying the claimableresidential address when at least one a credit card billing address anda debit card billing address is matched with an inputted address throughan authentication services provider; communicating to user profiles ofat least one of the police department, the municipal agency, theneighborhood association, and the neighborhood leader an instant accesscode that is printable at town hall meetings and gatherings sponsored byany one of the police department, the municipal agency, the neighborhoodassociation, and the neighborhood leader; authenticating new users whenexisting verified users agree to a candidacy of new users in theparticular neighborhood; authenticating new users whose phone number ismatched with an inputted phone number through the authenticationservices provider; and authenticating new users whose social securitynumber is matched with an inputted social security number through theauthentication services provider.
 21. The method of claim 20: initiallysetting the particular neighborhood to a pilot phase status in which theonline community of the particular neighborhood is provisionally defineduntil a minimum number of users verify their residential addresses inthe particular neighborhood through the privacy server; andautomatically deleting profiles of users that remain unverified after athreshold window of time.
 22. The method of claim 21 wherein theneighborhood communication system is designed to create private websitesto facilitate communication among neighbors and build strongerneighborhoods.
 23. A neighborhood communication system comprising: aprivacy server to verify that each user lives at a residence associatedwith a claimable residential address of the online community formedthrough a social community module of the privacy server using aprocessor and a memory; a network; and a mapping server communicativelycoupled with the privacy server through the network to generate alatitudinal data and a longitudinal data associated with each claimableresidential address of the online community associated with each user ofthe online community, wherein the privacy server to automaticallydetermine a set of access privileges in the online community associatedwith each user of the online community by constraining access in theonline community based on a neighborhood boundary determined using aBezier curve algorithm of the privacy server, wherein the privacy serverto transform the claimable residential address into a claimed addressupon an occurrence of an event, wherein the privacy server toinstantiate the event when a particular user is associated with theclaimable residential address based on a verification of the particularuser as living at a particular residential address associated with theclaimable residential address using the privacy server, wherein theprivacy server to constrain the particular user to communicate throughthe online community only with a set of neighbors having verifiedaddresses using the privacy server, wherein the privacy server to definethe set of neighbors as other users of the online community that haveeach verified their addresses in the online community using the privacyserver and which have each claimed residential addresses that are in athreshold radial distance from the claimed address of the particularuser, wherein the privacy server to optionally extend the thresholdradial distance to an adjacent boundary of an adjacent neighborhoodbased a request of the particular user, wherein the privacy server togenerate a separate login to the online community designed to be usableby at least one of a police department, a municipal agency, aneighborhood association, and a neighborhood leader associated with theparticular neighborhood, wherein the separate login to permit at leastone of the police department, the municipal agency, the neighborhoodassociation, and the neighborhood leader to: invite residents of theparticular neighborhood themselves using the privacy server using aself-authenticating access code that permits new users that enter theself-authenticating access code in the online community to automaticallyjoin the particular neighborhood as verified users, generate at leastone of a virtual neighborhood watch group and an emergency preparednessgroup restricted to users verified in the particular neighborhood usingthe privacy server, conduct high value crime and safety relateddiscussions from local police and fire officials that is restricted tousers verified in the particular neighborhood using the privacy server,broadcast information across the particular neighborhood, and receiveand track neighborhood level membership and activity to identify leadersfrom the restricted group of users verified in the particularneighborhood using the privacy server.
 24. The neighborhoodcommunication system of claim 23: wherein the privacy server toconstrain the threshold radial distance to be less than a distance ofthe neighborhood boundary using the Bezier curve algorithm, wherein theprivacy server to permit the neighborhood boundary to take on a varietyof shapes based on at least one of an associated geographic connotation,a historical connotation, a political connotation, and a culturalconnotation of neighborhood boundaries, wherein the privacy server toapply a database of constraints associated with neighborhood boundariesthat are imposed on a map view of the online community when permittingthe neighborhood boundary to take on the variety of shapes, wherein theprivacy server to apply an address verification algorithm associatedwith each user of an online community, and wherein the privacy server togenerate a user-generated boundary in a form of a polygon describinggeospatial boundaries defining the particular neighborhood when a firstuser of a particular neighborhood that verifies a first residentialaddress of the particular neighborhood using the privacy server prior toother users in that particular neighborhood verifying their addresses inthat particular neighborhood places a set of points defining theparticular neighborhood using a set of drawing tools in the map view ofthe online community.
 25. The neighborhood communication system of claim24: wherein the privacy server to permit each of the restricted group ofusers verified in the particular neighborhood using the privacy serverto: share information about a suspicious activity that is likely toaffect several neighborhoods, explain about a lost pet that might havewandered into an adjoining neighborhood, rally support from neighborsfrom multiple neighborhoods to address civic issues, spread informationabout events comprising a local theater production and a neighborhoodgarage sale, and solicit advice and recommendations from the restrictedgroup of users verified in the particular neighborhood and optionally inthe adjacent neighborhood.
 26. The neighborhood communication system ofclaim 25: wherein the privacy server to flag a neighborhood feed fromthe particular neighborhood and optionally from the adjacentneighborhood as being inappropriate, wherein the privacy server tosuspend users that repeatedly communicate self-promotional messages thatare inappropriate as voted based on a sensibility of any one of theverified users of the particular neighborhood and optionally from theadjacent neighborhood, wherein the privacy server to personalize whichnearby neighborhoods that verified users are able to communicate throughbased on a request of the particular user, wherein the privacy server topermit the neighborhood leader to communicate privately with leaders ofan adjoining neighborhood to plan and organize on behalf of an entireconstituency of verified users of the particular neighborhood associatedwith the neighborhood leader, wherein the privacy server to filter feedsto only display messages from the particular neighborhood associatedwith each verified user, and wherein the privacy server to restrictposts only in the particular neighborhood to verified users havingverified addresses within the neighborhood boundary.
 27. Theneighborhood communication system of claim 26: wherein the privacyserver to initially set the particular neighborhood to a pilot phasestatus in which the online community of the particular neighborhood isprovisionally defined until a minimum number of users verify theirresidential addresses in the particular neighborhood through the privacyserver, wherein the privacy server to automatically delete profiles ofusers that remain unverified after a threshold window of time, whereinthe neighborhood communication system is designed to create privatewebsites to facilitate communication among neighbors and build strongerneighborhoods, and wherein the address verification algorithm of theprivacy server utilizes a set of verification methods to performverification of the particular user through any of a: a postcardverification method through which the privacy server generates aphysical postcard that is postal mailed to addresses of requesting usersin the particular neighborhood and having a unique alphanumeric sequencein a form of an access code printed thereon which authenticates usersthat enter the access code to view and search privileges in theparticular neighborhood of the online community, a credit cardverification method through which the privacy server verifies theclaimable residential address when at least one a credit card billingaddress and a debit card billing address is matched with an inputtedaddress through an authentication services provider, aprivately-published access code method through which the privacy servercommunicates to user profiles of at least one of the police department,the municipal agency, the neighborhood association, and the neighborhoodleader an instant access code that is printable at town hall meetingsand gatherings sponsored by any one of the police department, themunicipal agency, the neighborhood association, and the neighborhoodleader, a neighbor vouching method through which the privacy serverauthenticates new users when existing verified users agree to acandidacy of new users in the particular neighborhood, a phoneverification method through which the privacy server authenticates newusers whose phone number is matched with an inputted phone numberthrough the authentication services provider, and a social securityverification method through which the privacy server authenticates newusers whose social security number is matched with an inputted socialsecurity number through the authentication services provider.